China slammed at UN for human rights abuses, repression of democracy in Hong Kong

China was fiercely criticised by the United States, United Kingdom and several other countries at a UN meeting on Tuesday (Jan 23) over its chequered human rights record in its restive regions of Xinjiang, Tibet as well as its Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.

The UK called on China to "cease the persecution and arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Tibetans and allow genuine freedom of religion or belief and cultural expression without fear of surveillance, torture, forced labour or sexual violence", while the US said China should "release all arbitrarily detained individuals” and cease the operation of "forcible assimilation policies including boarding schools in Tibet and Xinjiang".

Each country at the UN headquarters in Geneva was given 45 seconds to make recommendations as part of the UN Human Rights Council's universal periodic review.

It is a mechanism by which the 193 United Nations member states review each others' human rights records every five years.

Drop Jimmy Lai's prosecution: UK urges China

The UK also recommended that the national security law in Hong Kong be repealed. London also specifically urged Beijing to drop the persecution of the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai.

Some 163 countries spoke at the Tuesday session.

A UN report published in August 2022 found that China was committing "serious human rights violations" against Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Beijing had described it as "disinformation".

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Washington's envoy Ambassador Michèle Taylor repeated the accusation of genocide in Xinjiang.

"We condemn the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and trans-national repression to silence individuals abroad," Taylor said.

China's response

While responding to the recommendations, China's UN ambassador, Chen Xu, said that concerns of the countries were caused by "misunderstanding or misinformation".

Chen said: "A few countries groundlessly accuse and smear China, based not on facts but on ideological bias and unfounded rumours and lies."

Bhutan, India's neighbour in the northeast said: "We commend the significant progress in poverty alleviation and the achievement of the poverty reduction target of the 2030 agenda ahead of schedule."

(With inputs from agencies)