The United States and the United Kingdom, according to a document and diplomats on Monday, want the U.N. Human Rights Council to talk about how China treats Uyghurs and other Muslims in the far western province of Xinjiang.
After a long-awaited UN report came out last month saying that “severe human rights violations” had happened in Xinjiang that may be crimes against humanity, a number of countries were thinking about taking action at the meeting of the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is still going on.
China has sent a group of government officials to Geneva to argue against what it thinks are wrong conclusions by the UN rights office. China has strongly denied doing anything wrong. It also says that if anything is done against it, it is “ready for the fight.”
The so-called “draught decision,” which Reuters looked at, says that the council should talk about it during its next meeting, which starts in February.
China is a “P5” member with a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and close economic ties to many developing countries. The latest accusations against China have caused a rift among the 47 members of the council. The call for a debate is seen as less confrontational than a resolution that could have asked for a probe into the Xinjiang charges.
