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