US, UK, Germany Take on China at UN Over Treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang
Dozens of countries raised awareness about China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang at a meeting at the United Nations on Wednesday, angering Beijing, which had lobbied member states to stay away from what it described as an anti-China event.
In a note to U.N. member states last week, China’s U.N. mission rejected the accusations as “lies and false allegations” and accused the organizers of being “obsessed with provoking confrontation with China.” China urged countries “NOT to participate in this anti-China event.”
The event was organized by Germany, the United States and Britain and co-sponsored by Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other European nations. Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen said countries who sponsored the event faced “massive Chinese threats,” but did not elaborate.
British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward described the situation in Xinjiang as “one of the worst human rights crises of our time,” adding: “The evidence … points to a program of repression of specific ethnic groups.”
She called for China to allow “immediate, meaningful and unfettered access” to U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.
Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth called out Bachelet for not joining the event. A spokesperson for Bachelet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“I’m sure she’s busy. You know we all are. But I have a similar global mandate to defend human rights and I couldn’t think of anything more important to do than to join you here today,” Roth told the event.
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