Turkey and the war of words in the UN on Uyghurs

The United Kingdom and Germany led a group of 39 member states in the UNGA to condemn (6 October 2020)China’s treatment of Uyghurs and imposition of harsh security measures in Hong Kong, signalling increasing opposition to Beijing’s policies.The joint statement issued to the General Assembly’s human rights committee, by the two nations, as well as, the US, Canada, Australia, Japan, and several members of the European Union, blamed China for its persecution of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).Pertinently, Turkey was not amongst the nations which supported the joint statement, though its Mission to the UN did issue a separate statement. 

The West and UNGA on Uyghur

While the see-saw battle at the UN between the West and China has continued periodically over the latter’s treatment of Uyghur and other minorities, the West has been unable to get Turkey on board this exercise. Reasons for this will become clear further in this analysis. First, a view of the latest statement issued by 39 member states. Germany’s UN Ambassador Christoph Heusgen told the Committee that member states had seen “an increasing number of reports of gross human rights violations” in the XUAR, where authorities are believed to have arbitrarily detained up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other minority Muslims in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017.

The joint statement reflects the prevailing reality in Xinjiang that “severe restrictions” on freedom of religion or belief and the freedoms of movement, association and expression, as well as on Uyghur culture continue to persist. It notesthat all-pervasive surveillance “disproportionally continues to target Uyghurs and other minorities,” and draws attention to reports of forced labour and birth control, including sterilization. The statement therefore calls on China “to allow immediate, meaningful, and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and her Office, and relevant special procedure mandate holders.”

In August 2018, the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), had told China to refrain from arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other minorities.UNGA member states reiterated this demand and urged China to implement the recommendations made while also calling on all countries to respect the principle of non-refoulement of those who have fled repression in the XUAR. That Xinjiang is the only place drawing the attention of the international community became apparent when the UNGA member states also insisted that China respect human rights in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, where Tibetans have similarly seen their freedoms eroded under Chinese control and are facing forced labour and other policies seen in the Xinjiang.

The countries also expressed “deep concern” about elements of the 1 July 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law, and called on China to “uphold autonomy, rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and to respect the independence of the Hong Kong judiciary.” According to the joint statement, the Hong Kong Law bans words and deeds, deemed by the authorities to constitute separatism, subversion or terrorism, or collusion with a foreign power. Under the law, certain cases can be transferred for prosecution to the Chinese mainland.

It expresses concern over provisions contained in Hong Kong’s National Security Law saying that these did not conform to China’s international legal obligations.The 39 member states said authorities in Hong Kong must guarantee the rights protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Joint Declaration signed between London and Beijing ahead of the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China in 1997, including freedoms of speech, the press and assembly.

This development shows that there has been a significant increase in the number of countries who are willing to stand up to China, despite the latter’s threat to cut off trade, as last year there were only 23 countries which had backed the resolution condemning China for its human rights record. Clearly, there has been a discernible change in the attitude of nations towards China, ever since the Wuhan virus spread across the world. 

Interestingly, arecent Pew Research Centresurvey has found that more than two-thirds of people in fourteen major countries have expressed “no confidence” in Chinese President Xi Jinping to pursue a constructive foreign policy. Notably, one of the most widely cited reasons was China’s lack of transparency in its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which originated in its central city of Hubei.While China had enjoyed an overwhelming positive public image in the European Union in recent years, the country is increasingly being viewed with suspicion about its motives. Several key European countries, including Italy, Spain, and Switzerland, showed their willingness, to support a resolution condemning China for the first time this year.

Turkey’s call

Turkey, a Muslim majority nation which is home to over 50,000 Uyghurs did not support the resolution in the UNGA but hasused the Uyghur card to its advantage by issuing a separate statement. Its mission to the UN stated that the rights situation in the Xinjiang “remains a cause of concern” and that the CERD’s recommendations “are still valid today and need to be acted on.” The mission statement also said “As a country having ethnic, religious and cultural ties with the Uyghur Turks, we have been particularly alarmed by the recently published reports and news on alleged human rights practices against Uyghur Turks and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.”

Turkey’s current posturing on the Uyghur issue is well known as it faces an economic crisis of huge dimensions, and given the fact that Ankara cannot expect the US to bail it out, has turned to China for help. The extent of the expected assistance to pull Turkey out of the crisis is uncertain, but currency stability is certainly going to be one of the areas of required support. This is the reason why Turkey issued a separate statement which while respecting China’s territorial integrity, expects that “Uyghur Turks and other Muslim minorities live in peace and prosperity as equal citizens of China, and that their cultural and religious identities are respected and guaranteed”.

Both countries signed an extradition treaty in 2017, which President Erdogan submitted for ratification to the Grand National Assembly in 2018. This changed the policy of the government, which had till then not extradited Uyghurs, wanted by China. After ratification of the treaty,Turkey sent home several Uyghurs, via Tajikistan, including Zinnetgul Tursun along with her two toddler daughters. Subsequently, Tursun’s sister, who lives in exile in Saudi Arabia, learned from her mother in the XUAR that her sibling had “disappeared” and that the family had no information about what had happened to her.

In February 2019, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry had issued a rare statement of criticism of China, that too by a majority Muslim nation, which demanded that Chinese authorities close the internment camps in Xinjiang.However, subsequently during a trip to China in July 2019, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged security cooperation with Beijing and said that residents of Xinjiang live “happy and prosperous lives” under Beijing’s rule. This makes it very clear that Turkey has chosen to bury the Uyghur hatchet with China and seeks closer cooperation with a nation that persecutes its minorities. 

China’s response

China issued a statement defending its policies in the XUAR arguing that it was part of its strategy against the “threats of terrorism and extremism,” and secured the support from 45 countries to back its policies. Little wonder then that speaking to the UN General Assembly, China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun struck a strident tone and blamed President Trump and his administration for the current vote by 39 member states. He said the current vote was part of a bid by the Trump administration to draw attention away from its own domestic problems that include racial inequality and a failed response to the corona pandemic that had led to more than 210,000 deaths in the US.“I would like to say to the US that blaming China cannot cover up your poor human rights records,” Zhang said.“Before accusing others, you’d better take a good look in the mirror at yourself. In fact,it is the US that should protect the basic rights of its people.”

The battle of wits against China thus continues and it remains to be seen if the US under a new administration will persist with the policy of targeting China at every available opportunity. Further, the issue of whether countries would align their policies with that of the US to create a new world order, remains moot. Till then however, what is clear is that opposition to China has grown in 2020 and it can be safely expected to intensify in the coming year, rather than receding. That is the key lesson learnt from the current UNGA vote led by the UK and Germany, notwithstanding posturing by countries like Turkey, which in any case is today in China’s camp. 

 

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