China's Human Rights Record Reviewed at UN

Facts

• China faced a rare public critique over its human rights record by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Tuesday as part of the organization's Universal Periodic Review, which all UN member states must undergo every five years.¹
• Though designed to encourage constructive recommendations, the review process that has seen more than 160 nations registering to take part in the discussions — meaning that each country had up to 45 seconds to speak — was marked by firm stances both pro and against Beijing.²
• Western countries, including Germany, Japan, and Canada, criticized the PRC for its alleged human rights violations against Xinjiang Uyghurs and Tibetans as well as for restrictions that have been imposed in Hong Kong.³
• Meanwhile, many Global South nations, as well as Russia, praised Beijing for its successful policies in the field of social and economic development. Others, such as Argentina, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, adopted a more balanced stance, with Hungary breaching the united European Union front to urge the review not to be used for instrumentalization of human rights.⁴
• This was the first time that China has had its human rights record reviewed since a long-delayed UN report on Xinjiang, written by then-outgoing Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet and published in 2022, found that Beijing was committing serious violations against the Uyghur population.⁵
• On Monday, Reuters reported — citing four diplomats — that the Chinese Mission to the United Nations in Geneva had sent memos to lobby non-Western envoys to praise its human rights record in the build-up to the meeting on Tuesday.⁶

Sources: ¹DW, ²NBC, ³Al Jazeera, ⁴South China Morning Post, ⁵The Guardian and ⁶Reuters.

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. China's progress in protecting human rights cannot be questioned. Such progress is remarkable and a testament to the PRC's continued devotion to respecting its diversity of culture, heritage, and ethnicity. As seen by the many commendations from the vast majority of countries present for UNHCR's review, despite the West's best efforts, the world continues to recognize the continued growth of China as an internationally renowned beacon for equality and respect.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Amnesty International. China continues to be disingenuous to the international community as it maintains a denial of the incessant human rights abuses across the country. While human rights defenders in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and throughout China are silenced, tortured, and oppressed, Beijing continues to publicly reject acknowledgment of its crimes against humanity — a reality that only worsens year after year.

Predictions