China says it is ready to engage with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, after the U.N. body called this week for a comprehensive review of Beijing’s laws and policies in Xinjiang.
Speaking at a regular briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, "China is willing to engage in constructive exchanges and cooperation” with OHCHR but added that a review should be conducted “on the basis of mutual respect.”
China and its policies in Xinjiang have been a persistent point of tension in recent years for the international community and Beijing. The Chinese government has been blamed for incarcerating more than 1 million Uyghurs in Xinjiang, with some accusing it of genocide, a charge that Beijing strongly denies.
In a 2022 report, Michelle Bachelet, then-U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, detailed alleged abuses in Xinjiang. The report cited abuses such as mass arbitrary detentions and forced labor and concluded that these practices might amount to crimes against humanity. The report also urged the Chinese government to address these violations and implement meaningful reforms.
On Tuesday, just days ahead of the anniversary, OHCHR released an update to the report and renewed its call for a thorough review of China’s laws, especially those impacting ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, urged Beijing to conduct a “full review, from the human rights perspective, of the legal framework governing national security and counterterrorism,” and called for enhanced protections against discrimination for minorities, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
“We understand that many problematic laws and policies remain in place in Xinjiang,” Shamdasani said.
China says the measures are necessary to combat extremism, terrorism and separatism.
While Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China was willing to engage, he also warned against the "politicization of human rights and divisive confrontational actions."
“We believe that the OHCHR needs to fulfill its mandate in a just and objective manner, respect countries’ sovereignty, respect facts, conduct constructive dialogue and cooperation with countries,” Lin said.
He also highlighted China’s historical achievements in human rights in Xinjiang.
“Xinjiang today enjoys social stability and economic growth, and the people there live a happy life,” he said. “It is at its best in history, where people of all ethnic groups are working together for a better life.”
Persistent concerns
The U.N. Human Rights Office’s latest call for reform follows a June visit by a U.N. human rights team to China, where they engaged with authorities on counterterrorism policies and the criminal justice system. Despite those discussions, concerns persist.
“Allegations of human rights violations, including torture, need to be fully investigated,” the update stated. The OHCHR still faces challenges related to limited access to information in Xinjiang and risks of reprisals against those engaging with the United Nations.
“We continue to follow the current human rights situation closely, despite these challenges,” Shamdasani noted.
The U.N. has been actively raising individual cases of concern with the Chinese government, urging the release of arbitrarily detained individuals and seeking clarity on the status of those whose families are inquiring about them.
Shamdasani emphasized the high commissioner’s commitment to continuing engagement with China and advocacy on behalf of victims. \“Our goal remains to improve human rights protections for all individuals on the ground,” she added.
Calls for accountability
Rayhan Asat, a human rights lawyer and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, described the high commissioner’s update as a crucial acknowledgment of China's failure to implement U.N. recommendations or halt its repressive policies against Uyghurs.
“Despite the high commissioner’s years of engagement, progress remains absent as the laws underpinning mass imprisonment remain in place,” Asat told VOA. “The need for a renewed approach, combining public and private pressure, is evident.”
Asat is a co-author of a study released earlier this month by the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University. The report says China’s mass imprisonment of Uyghurs constitutes both a crime against humanity and a crime of genocide.
The Yale report estimates that if this mass incarceration in Xinjiang continues, Uyghurs could suffer a cumulative 4.4 million years of incarceration.
Asat’s brother, Ekpar Asat, who has been arbitrarily imprisoned by Chinese authorities in Xinjiang, is among the many cases studied in the report. Ekpar, a Uyghur media tech entrepreneur, was detained in 2016 after returning to China from a U.S. State Department exchange program. He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of “inciting ethnic discrimination and ethnic hatred.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch urged the U.N. and its member states to intensify their efforts to pressure the Chinese government to end its abuses in Xinjiang.
“Beijing’s brazen refusal to meaningfully address well-documented crimes in Xinjiang is no surprise but shows the need for a robust follow-up by the U.N. human rights chief and U.N. member states,” Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.
“Contrary to the Chinese government’s claims, its punitive campaign against millions of Uyghurs in Xinjiang continues to inflict great pain,” she said.
Raphäel Viana David, China program manager at the International Service for Human Rights, welcomed the high commissioner’s commitment to working with civil society and advocating for the implementation of all U.N. recommendations to China.
“Beijing does not get to cherry-pick: U.N. human rights findings are indivisible and, altogether, chart the only genuine path forward for China to achieve meaningful human rights change,” he said in a statement on the ISHR website.
David added that any deviation from adhering to U.N. recommendations is deceitful and demonstrates a lack of commitment to being a responsible global actor.
