Research Group on 'China' FY2021-#1

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Introduction

On June 22, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council issued a joint statement of concern about the human rights situations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet¹. The statement was signed by 44 countries, including Western countries, Japan and others that recognize the Republic of China (Taiwan), and was read out by the Canadian ambassador (see the list at the end of this report for details of the countries that signed the statement). In response, the representative of Belarus issued a statement in defense of China on the same day, and the number of countries that signed that statement reached 69, mainly from Africa and the Middle East (including Palestine; see below)². According to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 90 countries in addition to those that officially signed support China³. This means that there are more than twice as many countries that support China as those that express concern.

China is gaining momentum due to its superiority in numbers.

Such division in the UN Human Rights Council is not new. In July 2019, 22 countries issued a joint statement condemning China's policies in Xinjiang, while 37 countries signed a joint statement in defense of China. In October 2020, 39 countries signed a statement criticizing China's Xinjiang policy, while 45 countries signed a statement defending China⁴. In June 2020, 27 countries, including Japan, expressed their opposition to the introduction of the Hong Kong National Security Maintenance Law, while 53 countries expressed their support⁵. In each of these confrontations, China's advocates have outnumbered the other side, and it goes without saying that the Chinese side gained momentum as a result.

Initially, the Chinese side merely expressed its firm opposition to interference in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights in response to criticism mainly from Western countries. But since the beginning of 2021, it has taken a stronger stance in criticizing the human rights problems of Western countries. At a regular press conference held by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs the day after the most recent round of statements (23 June 2021), spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the following statement:

"[S]ome Western countries like Canada, the US and the UK style themselves as "human rights judges and lecturers," but choose to turn a blind eye to or downplay their own serious human rights issues. The track records of certain countries are beyond appalling: persecution of indigenous children, widespread police violence, deep-seated racism, proliferation of firearms, frequent occurrence of anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-African and anti-Asian remarks and incidents, military interventions that lead to serious humanitarian disaster and unilateral coercive measures that violate the basic human rights in other countries. With such a woeful record, what right do they have to judge the human rights situation in other countries? We urge these countries to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror, deeply repent their wrongdoing, take concrete steps to address their own serious human rights problems...⁶"

In particular, China is pursuing the issue of killing of indigenous children in Canada, which read out the joint statement that expressed concern over the human rights. On 22 June 2021, the very same day that the battle of statements took place, Jiang Dan, China's minister in Geneva, along with Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Sri Lanka and others, issued another joint statement. The statement addressed the discovery of the remains of more than 200 children at the site of an aboriginal boarding school in Canada and urged Canada to "immediately stop its human rights violations"⁷. China is now repudiating the criticisms of Western countries head-on and is launching a counter offensive by taking advantage of Western countries' own languages.

Background of the growing support for China

There are various factors behind the growing support for China, including the fact that China has steadily increased the number of countries with which it can cooperate in UN diplomacy, and the strong expectations among developing countries for Chinese investment related to the Belt and Road Initiative and support in dealing with new coronavirus infections. However, a more fundamental factor that I would like to point out in this paper is that China's policies toward Xinjiang and Hong Kong are themselves undergoing changes.

Over the past few years, China has been criticized by the West for its policies in Xinjiang, such as placing ethnic minorities in "re-education facilities" (vocational training centers), tightening restrictions on childbearing and forcibly mobilizing laborers, as well as for tightening controls in Hong Kong and introducing the National Security Maintenance Law. All these policies were changes to the status quo implemented by the Chinese Communist regime based on its own internal logic, which caused severe friction in Hong Kong and was rejected by Western public opinion⁸.

However, these attempts to change the status quo had already subsided by the end of 2020, and a thorough monitoring system is being put in place. Xinjiang has been cut off from the outside world, protests in Hong Kong have been suppressed and, to varying degrees, these regions have entered a state of controlled silence. From China's point of view, this has made it easier for more countries to agree with China's point of view by preventing new disturbances that might give other countries an "excuse" for condemnation.

Of course, the accusations against China continue, based on newly revealed testimonies, accusations, and cases pertaining to its continued repressive rule in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. At the same time, though, China is stepping up its propaganda. Since the spring of 2021 in particular, propaganda activities praising China's Xinjiang policy have been carried out in various parts of the world to counteract the criticism that China has received to date, which from China's point of view has no basis in fact. It emphasizes the happy lives of ethnic minorities who have undergone vocational training and shows cotton fields where mechanization has made it unnecessary for people to pick cotton by hand⁹. A kind of parallel world based on China's claims is spreading beyond the scope of China as a single country and gaining purchase across the international community.

List of signatories to joint statements on June 22, 2021

(Prepared by the author based on the materials in notes 1 and 2)

(Alphabetical order by country name)