Speaker 1: We've been talking about this report from the U N
Speaker 1: Human Rights Office. It has accused China of actions that
Speaker 1: make constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. It
Speaker 1: stems from China's massed attention of wagers and other predominantly
Speaker 1: Muslim groups in the far western region of shian Jung.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a closer look now with Colin Murphy.
Speaker 1: He is China government reporter based in Beijing. Colum, thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us this. It was a long awaited report.
Speaker 1: Give me a sense of why it was released today. Yes,
Speaker 1: very long awaited, I mean it's One of the reasons
Speaker 1: for the delay was the the High Commissioner wanted to
Speaker 1: visit Shinjian in person, and while the invitation was extended
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, getting her to Shinjian, getting
Speaker 1: on the ground was held back for a number of reasons,
Speaker 1: including of course, COVID. So she finally met that trip
Speaker 1: in May of this year, one that was criticized at
Speaker 1: the time by human rights advocates. And yesterday, the thirty
Speaker 1: onet of August, was her final day in office, and
Speaker 1: she had pledged to get the report out on the
Speaker 1: final day, and and sure enough right down to the wire. UM,
Speaker 1: the report came out, so it's been long anticipated. But
Speaker 1: I would say most people are are are saying it
Speaker 1: was worth the weight in some respects because there's a
Speaker 1: lot in here that definitely needs to be discussed, unpacked
Speaker 1: and considered going forward. Yes, crimes against humanity. I'm referenced
Speaker 1: that now some countries, including the US, have accused Beijing
Speaker 1: of committing genocide in Shan John, does this report address
Speaker 1: the issue of genocide? Known from what we've gone through
Speaker 1: the report, there's no reference to genocide, but you know,
Speaker 1: there is a lot of other damning things in there,
Speaker 1: and basically, you know, everything from the involuntary detention of
Speaker 1: people in the re education centers to denial, denying people
Speaker 1: the right to religious freedom, to force labor and onto uh,
Speaker 1: you know, birth control policies. I mean, it basically covers
Speaker 1: the whole range of possible UM human rights violations without
Speaker 1: directly arriving at a conclusion that genocide is in place.
Speaker 1: Has there been a response to the report from Beijing? Uh?
Speaker 1: The report itself does contain some of the sort of
Speaker 1: viewpoints from Beijing. UM, but nothing since the report published.
Speaker 1: But yesterday, a day ahead sort of in I guess,
Speaker 1: in hindsight what looks like a preemptive attack on the
Speaker 1: report from the Chinese Foreign Ministry. They described it as
Speaker 1: a political stunt and that it had been unduly influenced
Speaker 1: by the United States and other Western countries. So we're
Speaker 1: looking for more response today and it's obviously not going
Speaker 1: to be favorable. Um. And it is a big problem
Speaker 1: for Beijing because you know, typically they have held up
Speaker 1: the United Nations as this sort of beacon of multilateralism
Speaker 1: and have been constantly sort of urging other countries, including
Speaker 1: the US, to follow the U n Charter. So it
Speaker 1: will be interesting to see how they reconcile this report
Speaker 1: from the same body that they have held up in
Speaker 1: such high esteem up to now. So in fewer than
Speaker 1: well or in less than two weeks, I should say,
Speaker 1: the Human Rights Council will meet, the General Assembly will
Speaker 1: be convening here in New York City. Does this open
Speaker 1: the door for meaningful action by Member States? Well, it
Speaker 1: definitely gives people a very solid base with which to
Speaker 1: work with. The problem, of course, is that the High
Speaker 1: Commissioner herself has just left office, so a lot of
Speaker 1: this will fall on the desk of her successor, but
Speaker 1: there could also be actions taken by activist groups. Now
Speaker 1: that people are sort of re invigorated, shall we say,
Speaker 1: on the Shinjiang issue, we now have the you know,
Speaker 1: more sort of discussion and more evidence and the backing
Speaker 1: of the U N of course on this or the
Speaker 1: this sort of the report that came out, uh, sort
Speaker 1: of supporting a lot of research and a lot of
Speaker 1: the um, you know, positions that have been taken by
Speaker 1: activists in the past. So I will say that the
Speaker 1: pressure is definitely on now again UM to re up
Speaker 1: this topic and and to bring some meaningful changes, if possible,
Speaker 1: try to influence China's behavior to bring about some meaningful change.
Speaker 1: In xin Jong column, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 1: us and helping us understand the story. Uh. We're talking
Speaker 1: about the UN Human Rights Office accusing China of actions
Speaker 1: that may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity. Uh.
Speaker 1: It stems from the mass attention of weaker Muslims in
Speaker 1: xian Juan. Colin Murphy is China government reporter from Beijing,
Speaker 1: joining us here on Bloomberg Daybreak Asia