UPDATED: How middle powers are reacting to UN Human Rights report on Xinjiang

And the notable silence from Muslim-majority countries

Eleven minutes before the UN human rights commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, stepped down from her position, she issued a damning report on the human rights abuse against Uyghur Muslims in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang.

The 45-page report draws from years of efforts to analyze public documents, open-source information and interviews with 40 people of Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz ethnicities.

It details “credible” reports of arbitrary detention, forced sterilization, rape, and other forms of physical torture.

The report also cites information on the Uyghur diaspora being intimidated and forced to return to China after leaving the country.

“These include the prohibitions of arbitrary deprivation of life, torture, slavery, arbitrary detention, racial discrimination, and the commission of international crimes including crimes against humanity.”

Here’s an insightful Twitter thread on the report from Nathan Ruser, researcher at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Nathan Ruser @Nrg8000

A THREAD of thoughts while reading the newly-released and long-awaited UN OHCHR report that finds that China's Xinjiang policy has caused a deprivation of human rights (both individually and collectively) that may constitute crimes against humanity Read: ohchr.org/sites/default/…

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Here’s how the world’s middle powers have reacted to the report: 

Canada: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly issued a statement shortly after we first published this newsletter, calling the UN report “critical.” 

Joly added that the Canadian government is working with international partners “to address the risk of goods produced from forced labour, from any country, from entering Canadian and global supply chains.”

*The Middle Powers will continue to monitor whether Canada lives up to the above promise. 

“We will continue to work with our international partners on coordinated action to address the situation in Xinjiang and to ensure the Chinese government is held to account for its actions.”

In February 2021, the Canadian parliament voted unanimously in favour of declaring China's treatment of its Uyghur minority population a genocide. However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most members of his cabinet abstained.

Australia: Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong released a statement saying the government was “deeply concerned about the findings of the report”. She called on “all countries to adhere to their international human rights obligations.” 

Stephen Dziedzic @stephendziedzic

Statement from Foreign Minister Penny Wong on the UN's Xinjiang report. Repeats calls for China to "grant meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for United Nations experts, and other independent observers"

New Zealand: Politicians in New Zealand are split on the issue but the government has supported the publication of the report.

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the government “call on China to respond to the report's serious concerns and recommendations.”

Nanaia Mahuta @NanaiaMahuta

Aotearoa New Zealand 🇳🇿 welcomes the release of the @UNHumanRights report on Xinjiang which concludes serious human rights violations have been committed. We call on China to respond to the report's serious concerns and recommendations. Read more ⬇️ beehive.govt.nz/release/deep-c…

beehive.govt.nzDeep concern at UN report on human rights in XinjiangThe Foreign Affairs Minister says Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply concerned at a new report that concludes serious human rights violations have been committed against ethnic and religious minorities i

In an official statement, Mahuta added that New Zealand will further consider all the details in the report to determine appropriate next steps.

New Zeland’s right-centre opposition leader downplayed the UN report, saying China was trying to fight terrorism, like any government.

For a deeper look at how New Zealand views its relationship with China, check out this video featuring a discussion between two China watchers.

The Middle East: Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa have been silent over the report. 

The absence of comment doesn’t come as a surprise given that many of these countries have a friendly relationship with China. Gulf countries, for example, have recently been putting more effort into strengthening their ties with Beijing amid strained relationships with the West. Iran, another powerful player in the region, has been a long-time ally of the Chinese Communist Party. 

Muslim-majority countries have mostly abstained from condemning China’s actions in Xinjiang on several occasions. In 2019, the UN Human Rights Council released a statement urging China to end its surveillance and arbitrary detention of Muslim minorities in the region. The statement was signed by 18 European countries as well as Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, but with notable absence of Muslim-majority countries.

More recently, the Organization of Islamic Countries, the second-largest intergovernmental organization after the UN, invited Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as a special guest to its annual gathering this year, a move that drew strong opposition from Uyghur activists who said the institution failed to speak up about their plight.

For more on the recent shift in the scope of China-MENA ties, you can read this Middle East Institute publication.

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