Despite Overwhelming Proof China Denies UN’s Claims that Over a Million People Held in Internment Camps

 

BEIJING – China rejected on Monday allegations raised by a U.N. panel that over a million Uighurs may be held in internment camps in the restive Xinjiang region, but said that some people “underwent re-education” after being deceived by extremists.

Hu Lianhe, deputy director general of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that authorities in the far western Xinjiang region protected the full rights of all citizens equally.

China says that Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who plot attacks and stir up tensions between the mostly Muslim Uighur minority who call the region home and the ethnic Han Chinese majority.

“The argument that over a million people are detained in re-education centers is completely untrue,” Hu told the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the second day of its regular review of China’s record.

“On freedom of religious belief, Xinjiang guarantees citizens freedom of religious belief and protects normal religious activities,” he said.

“Those deceived by religious extremism … shall be assisted by resettlement and re-education,” he added.

Gay McDougall, a panel member, said on Friday it had received many credible reports that 1 million ethnic Uighurs in China are held in what resembles a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy, a sort of no rights zone”.

“To say that they don’t violate rights of minorities does not prove anything. We have to more than a denial of allegations,” she told the Chinese delegation on Monday.

“I notice that you didn’t quite deny that these re-education or indoctrination programs don’t take place,” she added, seeking clarification on how many people undergo re-education.

Hu said China has clamped down on “extremist and terrorist crimes” in Xinjiang in accordance with the law, saying that there had been assassinations, explosions and poisonings there.

But, he said, it did not target any particular ethnic minority or seek ‘de-Islamisation” of the region.

Earlier on Monday, in the country’s first response to the U.N. criticism, a state-run newspaper said that massively stepped-up security in Xinjiang has helped prevent “great tragedy”.

Meanwhile, The Chinese authorities have been limiting access of human rights groups to the country. Police from Cambodia to France have capitulated to pressure from Chinese law enforcement or Party “discipline” officers and handed over allegedly corrupt fugitives without any semblance of due process.

Universities struggle with ferocious complaints from Chinese diplomats about whether the institutions may describe Taiwan as an independent country, or have the Dalai Lama as a commencement speaker.

The question for democracies or businesses isn’t whether to engage: it is how to engage in a principled manner. This means treating China like many governments treat US President Donald Trump when he makes outrageous statements or adopts retrograde policies. Democratic leaders condemn Trump’s remarks about “fake news” – but don’t condemn China for its censorship or propaganda.

They criticize Trump for his hostility towards the UN, but have nothing to say on China’s efforts to weaken the institution.

It is time for new standards to reverse these highly abnormal relationships with China. Forty years into China’s “reform era”, Beijing has made clear it’s not moving on democracy, a free press, or an independent legal system, though courageous people continue to push for these at considerable personal risk.

If powerful outside voices mindlessly engage, they not only stab these brave people in the back – they may also find themselves obliged to dance to the tune of a highly repressive government.

By Stephanie Nebehay, Sophie Richardson
Reuters, Aljazeera

 

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