CHINA’S ENVOY SUMMONED BY SWITZERLAND OVER UIGHUR RIGHTS CONCERNS

Thu 08 September 2022:

Switzerland has summoned the Chinese ambassador to voice its concern over the state of human rights in Xinjiang, a region in western China.

On Thursday the Swiss foreign ministry said that “Switzerland is convinced that the best way to safeguard its interests and the respect of fundamental rights is to conduct a critical and constructive dialogue with Beijing,” .

The ministry cited last week’s report by the United Nations human rights commissioner that said China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity.

China’s foreign ministry has denied the allegations and described the UN report as “completely illegal and void”.

Beijing refutes claims that Uighurs are being mistreated there.

It initially disputed the existence of the camps, but later claimed that they were vocational skill training facilities necessary to combat “extremism” among Uighurs, an ethnic group that differs from China’s majority Han ethnic group in terms of religion, language, and culture.

Uighurs claimed to have experienced maltreatment, including forced sterilisation, family division and humiliation, being forced to consume pork, and being compelled to live with Han Chinese family “minders.”

Many people also think that Uighurs are subjected to forced labor in Xinjiang’s massive cotton sector.

Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognise Communist China, In 1950,

After the European Union and the United States, China has been its top trading partner globally and in Asia since 2010.

In July 2014, a bilateral free trade agreement went into effect, and this year, the two nations introduced a combined platform for stock listings and trading.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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