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320 articles matching the search query.
The China Agenda for September 18–24 — UNGA, Hou You-yi in the U.S.
This is what’s on the diplomatic, political, and business agenda for the week of September 18–24.
‘Is China running the UN?’
No — but it is dictating the UN’s Taiwan policy, argues Chris Horton from Taipei. And he has the faxes to prove it.
Exiled Uyghurs push UN to press China for account of relatives detained for being Muslim
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention demands release and reparations for Uyghurs jailed by Beijing illegally, for no crime.
The United Nations calls for the release of three illegally detained Uyghurs
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has called for the immediate release of Ekpar Asat, Qurban Mamut, and Gulshan Abbas.
China’s UN statements about LGBTQ issues don’t match the government’s policies at home
Over the years, Chinese delegates to the United Nations have made multiple statements in support of LGBTQ rights. Although these remarks strengthened China’s human rights reputation on the global stage, they are not backed up by policies or measures at home.
The UN says China ‘may be committing crimes against humanity’ in Xinjiang
More than three months after her fact-finding visit to China, the outgoing head of the United Nations main human rights organization released her report on human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. The document does not make Beijing look good.
UN Human Rights Committee issues findings on Hong Kong, Macao, Georgia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Uruguay
“Repeal the National Security Law” in Hong Kong, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee urged on Wednesday, voicing their deep concerns over the “overly broad” legislation that has “reportedly led to the arrests of over 200 people, including 12 children.”
Beijing seeks to block the UN rights report on Xinjiang
Beijing is trying to stop the publication of a United Nations report on Xinjiang that is expected to be critical of China’s human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other minorities.
International pressure builds over Xinjiang after UN visit
Dissatisfied with UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet’s recent visit to China, some Western countries have called for the International Labor Organization to carry out a mission to investigate Xinjiang.
Editor’s Note for Tuesday, May 24, 2022
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Editor’s Note for Monday, May 23, 2022
A note for Access newsletter readers from Jeremy Goldkorn.
Great Wall of Steel: China’s Global Campaign to Suppress the Uyghurs
More than 1,500 Uyghurs have been detained or extradited, mostly in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a new report from the Woodrow Wilson Center. Globally, more than 5,500 Uyghurs outside of China have been targeted by Beijing from cyberattacks to threats made against family members who remain in the nation. Meanwhile, pressure over Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and other minorities is growing:
Britain proposed new changes that would ban its health service from buying medical supplies made in Xinjiang following pressure from rights groups. The United Nations team in China is preparing for a scheduled visit from human rights chief Michelle Bachelet next month. “As a company, we are apolitical,” said Joseph Phi, the chief executive of Hong Kong supply chain management company Li & Fung, which has faced pressure over whether some products have been made using forced labor.
The Distortion of UN Resolution 2758 and Limits on Taiwan’s Access to the United Nations
China is pushing its “One China” principle in the United Nations (UN), a new report from U.S. think tank German Marshall Fund finds, which seeks to “institutionalize and normalize its stance on Taiwan within the UN” by “signing secret agreements with UN bodies, restricting Taiwan’s access to the UN and its facilities, and embedding [People’s Republic of China] nationals across various levels of UN staff.”
Jessica Drun and Bonnie Glaser, the authors of the report, said they had received funding from the Taiwanese government for the research but that the views in the report were their own, per the New York Times.
UN council defeats Russia humanitarian resolution on Ukraine
The UN Security Council has defeated a Russian resolution on Ukraine, which did not mention that Putin’s invasion caused the escalating humanitarian crisis. China was the only member that backed the resolution, reflecting Moscow’s failure to get widespread support for its war in Ukraine.
UN rights chief to visit Xinjiang as groups press for report
UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet plans to visit China in May, with a stop in Xinjiang, after she told the Human Rights Council that the Chinese government had granted approval. The breakthrough visit comes after a series of delays to enter the nation and mounting pressure from rights groups to publish a report into alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
China “welcomes” the visit, though freedom of expression is protected in China but “can never be a pretext to make anyone above the law,” said Chén Xù 陈旭, China’s ambassador to the UN, after Bachelet raised concern about the treatment of critics in the nation.
China ‘deeply concerned’ about Uyghur militants in Afghanistan, ambassador says
Zhang Jun, China’s envoy to the UN, raised concerns over a Security Council report on Afghanistan-based terrorism. The Uyghur militant group that Beijing is particularly concerned about, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), is not considered to be an organized threat by the U.S.
SpaceX satellites were not dangerously close to Chinese space station, US says
U.S. backs up SpaceX at UN: The United States said in a note to the UN that Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellites “did not meet the threshold” of collision criteria, denying China’s claim that the satellites twice endangered its space station and accusing Beijing of failing to communicate any concerns, per the South China Morning Post.
Olympic Torchbearer Evokes Memories of 2008 for Fellow Uyghur
An ethnic Uyghur carried the Olympic torch last Friday, sparking another round of controversy over Beijing’s choice of torchbearers and human rights abuses. Dilnigar Ilhamjan (Dinigeer Yilamujiang), a cross-country skier born in Xinjiang, was a similar pick to fellow Uyghur athlete Kamaltürk Yalqun, who carried the torch at the Beijing Summer Games in 2008, the Wall Street Journal reports. China’s ambassador to the UN has since said that China “sternly refutes” earlier comments made by his U.S. counterpart that the choice was an attempt to distract from China’s alleged rights abuses against ethnic minorities, per Reuters.
India accuses China of politicizing Olympics with military commander torchbearer
On the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics, India became the latest country to announce a diplomatic boycott of the ceremonies, citing the “regrettable” decision to pick a Chinese military commander from the recent India-China border clash as an Olympic torchbearer.
No reason for Ukraine war fears, China tells UN meeting
“No reason for concern” over Ukraine, Beijing says: At the UN Security Council on January 31, China’s envoy, Zhāng Jūn 张军, downplayed the risk of war over Ukraine, and accused “the United States of obstructing efforts to resolve the crisis through dialogue,” the South China Morning Post reports. Meanwhile, Russia and China continue to solidify ties, and when Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 meet in Beijing on February 4, they “could sign more than 15 agreements…with lots of new deals being prepared in relation to natural gas,” per Reuters.
See also:
In clash with U.S. over Ukraine, Putin has a lifeline from China / NYT (paywall) Beijing throws weight behind Moscow: China-Russia weekly update / SupChina
China open to U.N. rights chief visiting Xinjiang, as long as she doesn’t do any investigating there
The UN rights chief can visit Xinjiang, “as long as she doesn’t do any investigating there,” the Washington Post reports. Beijing used the word “exchange” rather than “investigation” to describe the potential upcoming visit by Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, which might “go forward but only after the [Winter Olympic] Games have concluded, thereby delaying the release of a long-awaited UN report on alleged abuses in the region.” See also reports from the South China Morning Post and Reuters.
In a Rare Move, China Joins U.S. in UN Statement Calling For Ceasefire in Ethiopia - The China Africa Project
How far will China stretch its non-interference principle? For years, international security researchers have noted and discussed a trend of Chinese foreign policy “slowly shifting away from a strict interpretation” of Beijing’s principle of “non-interference” in other countries’ affairs. Two recent developments regarding African countries appear to show more activist Chinese diplomacy: Over the weekend, China joined the U.S. in a UN statement calling for a cease-fire among warring parties in Ethiopia, two months after the Chinese Foreign Ministry directly spoke out against a coup in Guinea and called for the former president to be released.
Cryptic Elon Musk post goes viral in China amid clash with World Food Program
Elon Musk is viral again in China for tweeting a Chinese poem about people failing to get along, in a commentary either on Musk’s recent spat with the World Food Programme or competing dog-themed cryptocurrencies. The poem was written by Cao Zhi, who lived in the Three Kingdoms period.
In advance of climate summit, tension among Biden aides on China policy
Climate summit “expectations are dim”: The Washington Post has a report on the lead-up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow, which will start on October 31, and the critical role that the U.S.-China relationship plays in such meetings. John Kerry, Biden’s climate envoy, “has repeatedly pushed for direct diplomacy between Biden and Xi, believing that an improved bilateral relationship can produce better outcomes in Scotland…[but] White House aides, including national security adviser Jake Sullivan, are more skeptical that the United States alone can coax China into reducing emissions.”
Beijing will never let Taipei participate in UN, former envoy to US says
Cui Tiankai says talks between US and Taiwanese officials for ‘meaningful’ UN role ‘totally went against the tide of history’.
Taiwan, U.S. discuss UN participation ahead of key anniversary
Taiwanese and U.S. officials have discussed how Taiwan can "meaningfully" participate at the United Nations just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping will give a speech to mark his country's half century since accession to the global body.
Opinion | The U.N. Should Open Its Door to Democratic Taiwan
Expelled 50 years ago to make room for the Beijing government, today it deserves full recognition.
43 countries criticize China at UN for repression of Uyghurs
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 40 mainly Western countries criticized China at a U.N. meeting on Thursday for the reported torture and repression of Uyghurs and other religious and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, keeping a spotlight on the region where foreign governments and researchers say an estimated 1 million people or more have been confined in camps.
US holds firm on expanding ‘Taiwan’s international space
Senior American diplomat tells UN event that island committed to using technological expertise for common good.
Great Wall of Lights: China’s sea power on Darwin’s doorstep
ABOARD THE OCEAN WARRIOR in the eastern Pacific Ocean (AP) — It’s 3 a.m., and after five days plying through the high seas, the Ocean Warrior is surrounded by an atoll of blazing lights that overtakes the nighttime sky.
China’s Xinjiang policies debated again at UN Human Rights Council
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet raised concerns about “reports of serious violations” in Xinjiang, while Canada led more than 40 countries in raising grave concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses. China responded by accusing Bachelet of “erroneous remarks” and rallying 65 countries to its side.
Why are Chinese officials in Africa so active in messaging on Xinjiang?
A new wave of Chinese propaganda, pushing back on claims of genocide and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, is being promoted widely in Africa. Here are a few reasons why Africa might be a focus of this messaging campaign.
Criticism of China’s Xinjiang policies grows at UN
Diplomats at the UN delivered another round of dueling joint statements on China’s Xinjiang policies this week. The group of 39 countries criticizing Beijing was the largest yet, and Turkey separately raised concerns over human rights.
China welcomes incoming head of UN, where it wants a larger role
“China extended a warm welcome this week to the incoming United Nations chief, António Guterres, praising the world body and making clear that it wants a greater role there, at a time when Donald J. Trump’s election to the White House has many wondering whether American involvement will recede.”
