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UN’s Xinjiang human rights report expected to further strain relations between China and West
- Beijing has rejected the conclusions of the report, which said its policies in the Uygur autonomous region ‘may constitute international crimes’
- Beijing has blamed ‘anti-China forces’ for the findings, and some diplomatic analysts said the US would use them against the country
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The United Nations report into Xinjiang, which found that the Chinese government’s actions “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity” is likely to place further strains on the relationship between China and the West, according to diplomatic analysts.
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Beijing bluntly rejected the findings, which were released on Wednesday, the last day of Michelle Bachelet’s tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The report, which followed Bachlet’s visit to the far-western region in May, linked Beijing’s employment policies to forced labour and said it found evidence of torture in detention camps.
Beijing has always strongly denied accusations that it had detained more than a million Uygurs and other members of mainly Muslim minority groups, and argued its “re-education camps” are designed to eradicate extremism and terrorism.
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Leaked state documents describe repressive operations at China’s detention camps in Xinjiang
Leaked state documents describe repressive operations at China’s detention camps in Xinjiang
The release comes at a very sensitive time for Beijing, in the run-up to the Communist Party’s five-yearly party congress in mid-October when President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a third term.
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In July, Xi visited Xinjiang for the first time in eight years, after the United States slapped an import ban on goods from the region as a result of concerns about forced labour.
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