Jair Bolsonaro’s government did not support a proposal to initiate a debate at the UN on accusations of human rights abuses by Europeans and Americans in China.
In the tense vote at the United Nations Human Rights Council this Thursday, the Western bloc got just 17 votes, while China added 19 from its allies. But Brazil, like ten other countries, including Mexico, India, Argentina or the Gambia, chose to abstain.
Jair Bolsonaro’s government did not disclose the vote during the meeting. But Itamaraty’s internal assessment was that putting China on the international radar for human rights would increase tensions on the world stage, in addition to undermining the UN’s ability to take action to deal with other crises.
Western sources, however, suspect that the Beijing government is exerting strong pressure on Latin America to prevent the region from voting for the American and European project.
It was the submission of a UN report currently under the direction of Chilean Michelle Bachelet that identified serious human rights violations perpetrated by the Beijing government that led to the drafting of a formal meeting proposal. The focus was on the Uyghur population, and suspicions point to crimes against humanity, including torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests, perpetrated by the Chinese, according to the report.
Beijing rejected the offer. “What the Americans want is much more than a simple discussion. But to use UN forums to intervene in internal affairs,” the Chinese UN delegation said. “What they want is to instrumentalize human rights,” he attacked.
For the Chinese, the US government is “spreading rumors and lies” about the human rights situation in China in an attempt to “control development” in the country. For Beijing, such a proposal “would not encourage dialogue and would only create more conflict”. The communist regime even claimed that such an attempt would undermine the work of the UN Human Rights Council.
Presenting the proposal, the US government insisted that official UN reports on China’s situation justified the need for discussion. For the Joe Biden government, the goal was simply to set up a “neutral forum” to talk about the situation on Chinese soil.
White House Ambassador Michele Taylor denied that the bill politicized the human rights debate. “No country, neither mine nor China, should be excluded from a discussion,” said the head of the US delegation.
In addition to officials from Japan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and various democracies, the governments of the Scandinavian countries also supported the idea of including China in a discussion. France emphasized the neutrality of the UN while condemning the situation of violations against the Uyghur population.
Venezuela, Eritrea and Bolivia have stepped out to support the Chinese, claiming that the move was aimed at “political manipulation” and would increase the polarization of the Council.
Describing the West’s action as “hostile”, Nicolas Maduro’s delegation said, “They want to turn the Human Rights Council into a scene of conflict.” Caracas also recalled the pressure from the White House to avoid any reference to the United States during the racism debate at the UN two years ago following the death of African-American George Floyd.
Cuba also voted against the resolution, insisting that the action would be a way for Western powers to use the UN to condemn China “with the aim of achieving geopolitical goals”. For Havana, Bachelet’s report is “illegitimate” and such a discussion “will only deepen the crisis” between the countries.
source: Noticias
