To placate China, Israel refrains from signing UN statement on Uighurs

The foreign ministry says it has expressed human rights concerns regarding Xinjiang in past; Israeli diplomatic official says Jerusalem needs to balance various interests

IN AN EFFORT to placate China, Israel refrained from signing on to a joint statement at the United Nations last week that expressed concern over Beijing’s treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority, an Israeli diplomatic official told The Times of Israel on Sunday.

Forty-three countries signed on to the French-led statement, which called on China to “ensure full respect for the rule of law” in the Xinjiang region where “credible” reports “indicate the existence of a large network of ‘political re-education’ camps [with] over a million people [who] have been arbitrarily detained.”

Among the signatories were Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Poland, Turkey, the UK and the US.

The Israeli mission received a draft of the statement beforehand, but decided against supporting the initiative, a European diplomat confirmed.

Asked for comment on the matter, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, “Israel expresses its concerns about the Uighurs in various diplomatic tracks. One example of this was our signing onto the Canadian statement [on the Uighurs] in June at the Human Rights Council. Our position on the issue has not changed.”

FULL STORY In effort to placate China, Israel refrains from signing UN statement on Uighurs (Times of Israel)

Photo: Zhang Jun, permanent representative of China to the UN, speaks during a meeting of the Security Council, September 23 (AP/John Minchillo, Pool).