US to raise human rights issues in Muslim-heavy Xinjiang at the United Nations
- Beijing is expected to come in for criticism at the United Nations over its treatment of Uygurs in the country’s west
- Troubled area set to a source of friction between the two countries, analyst says
US deputy secretary of state John Sullivan will co-host a panel on Tuesday about the “human rights crisis in Xinjiang” for UN delegations and non-governmental partners, with contributions from victims of “China’s brutal campaign of repression” in Xinjiang.
According to the US State Department, Sullivan “welcomes global partners in joining the call for China to end the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of the people of Xinjiang”.
Human rights researchers and activists estimate that at least one million ethnic Uygurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in camps in Xinjiang for political indoctrination. Beijing says the facilities are vocational training centres.
The panel, organised on the sidelines of the UN’s annual summit, comes after a US-organised event on Monday featuring testimony from Jewher Ilham, daughter of Ilham Tohti, a Uygur scholar imprisoned in China.
US President Donald Trump was at the event and called for an end to religious persecution but did not specifically mention Xinjiang. However US Vice-President Mike Pence directly criticised the imprisonment of Uygurs in the autonomous region.
