Pakistan supports Chinese efforts for Xinjiang
SPOKESPERSON of Foreign Ministry of Pakistan, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, stated that the publication of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on Xinjiang’s human rights situation has been noted.
He gave these remarks in response to questions about the OHCHR report on Xinjiang. He stated Pakistan respects the values of the UN Charter, including respect for political independence, sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of states.
Likewise, it was enunciated that, it is a responsible member of the UN and strongly committed to multilateralism.
Non-politicization, universality, objectivity, dialogue and constructive engagement are the consistent positions adopted by the country as the primary tools for promoting universal respect for human rights.
In response to a question about China’s efforts about development in Xinjiang, he stated that Pakistan backs China’s efforts in Xinjiang for socioeconomic development, harmony, peace, and stability in Xinjiang.
In reply to a question, he said that over the last 35 years, China has succeeded in lifting over 700 million people out of poverty.
As a result, China has improved the living conditions and fundamental human rights of the people of the region.
He said that the living standards of the common people have been improved and they are enjoying the fundamentals of human rights in Xinjiang.
In response to the UN human rights report on Xinjiang he said, Pakistan values China’s constructive engagement.
This was pointed out with reference to the UN human rights system and the OIC General Secretariat as demonstrated by visits to China by the former High Commissioner for Human Rights and an OIC delegation.
In the same vein, it reaffirms its unwavering commitment to universalizing all human rights in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.
In the beginning of September, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released a controversial report just before leaving the position stating that China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity, the outgoing UN human rights chief said in a long-awaited report.
She released the report just minutes before her four-year term ended. In May 2022, Bachelet made an official visit to China, including Xinjiang, but she failed to acknowledge serious human rights violations in the country.
Her statement at the end of her trip undermined efforts to advance accountability in the region, instead giving the impression she had walked straight into a highly predictable propaganda exercise for the Chinese government.
This year marks the 71st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan.
China-Pakistan friendship has a time-honoured history and in the 7 decades both countries have stood together in rain or shine, and built an exceptional, iron-clad friendship.
Despite vicissitudes of times and changes in the international system, “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership” has grown into a towering tree with deep roots in the heart of the two peoples.
Chinese like to affectionately call Pakistani friends “iron brothers” while Pakistanis are used to describing Pakistan-China friendship as “higher than the mountains, deeper than the Oceans, sweeter than honey and harder than steel”.
The two peoples have vividly expressed the essence of the “all-weather friendship and all-round cooperation” between China and Pakistan in the plainest terms.
—The writer is PhD in International Relations based in Beijing.
