The foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand have expressed their deep concern at the findings and conclusion of the new United Nations (U.N.) report on human rights concerns in Xinjiang and supported calls for China to respond.
U.N. investigators uncovered “credible evidence” of torture possibly amounting to “crimes against humanity” at so-called Vocational Education and Training Centres in China between 2017 and 2019.
Beijing has defended the centres, stating that people in those facilities learn language and job skills.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia has consistently condemned the human rights violations against the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and across China.
New Zealand Joins International Calls
New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta similarly supported international calls for China to respond to the concerns and recommendations raised in the report.“The High Commissioner’s report notes that the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity.
“Aotearoa New Zealand will continue to work with our partners and in multilateral institutions to speak up and defend universal human rights, including for religious and ethnic minorities.”
The New Zealand government will take more time to consider all details of the report before determining its next steps.
![Penny Wong (L), Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs meets with Nanaia Mahuta, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister for bilateral talks in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 16, 2022. (Robert Kitchin - Pool/Getty Images)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F09%2F02%2FGettyImages-1241353052-600x400.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
However, Beijing has dismissed the report as a “groundless” smear campaign, denied all allegations of abuse and asserted that the camps are being used to fight terrorism.
The World Uyghur Congress, an umbrella group that represents about 60 organizations, welcomed the report while calling for an “immediate response to put an end to atrocities against Uyghurs.”
“This is a game-changer for the international response to the Uyghur crisis,” Uyghur Human Rights Project Executive Director Omer Kanat said in a statement. “Despite the Chinese government’s strenuous denials, the U.N. has now officially recognized that horrific crimes are occurring.”