“It’s just a shame.” Ukraine did not support the discussion on the Uyghur genocide at the UN. Why?
Ukraine calls on the world to recognize Russia’s actions in Ukraine as genocide, but last week Kyiv itself left aside the discussion of another possible genocide: on October 6, Ukraine did not support the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council regarding the discussion of the alleged genocide of the Uyghurs in China. And this caused a scandal: Western politicians, as well as Ukrainian deputies and human rights defenders, point out that Kyiv’s decision is at least a failure.
The next day after the vote and public criticism, the permanent representation of Ukraine at the UN in Geneva changed its opinion – Ms. Ambassador Evgenia Filipenko requested that the minutes of the meeting note that Ukraine still supports the resolution. Despite this, the President of the council Federico Villegas otherwise, it will not change the voting results.
Critics note that Ukraine’s actions can undermine the trust of Western partners in Ukraine. The ministry has not yet commented on the decision, but analysts note that Kyiv may simply be “afraid of quarreling with China.”
What could be behind the actions of Ukrainian diplomats? What does Ukraine risk by not voting together with Western democracies at the UN? And is it really possible to tilt China’s position in favor of Ukraine?
“Infinite shame in front of the Uyghurs”
By not supporting the discussion of the alleged genocide of the Uyghurs in China, Ukraine found itself in the club of countries that blocked this historic debate. The uniqueness of the discussion was that it was the first draft resolution in the history of the UN aimed at the violation of human rights in China at the levels. The co-authors of the resolution were Ukraine’s traditional partners from the West: the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Australia and Lithuania.
In fact, in order for the resolution to be adopted, only three votes were not enough. Ukraine could give one of them. At a time when Kyiv is trying to rally the civilized world into a so-called “anti-Putin” coalition, the decision of Ukrainian diplomats to block the discussion of the alleged genocide by another undemocratic government raised more than one pair of eyebrows both in the West and in the center of Ukraine.
Coordinator of the organization Free Hong Kong Center Artur Kharitonov It is noticeable that Ukraine became the only country in Europe that abstained during the historic vote.
“And it’s a shame – an infinite shame in front of the Uyghurs, who have been supporting Ukraine since February 24, 2022: with rallies, donations, diplomatic work,” Kharitonov wrote on Facebook.
Commenting for Radio Svoboda on Ukraine’s vote in the UN Human Rights Council, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Foreign Affairs Oleksandr Merezhko says: “It’s just a shame… We ourselves are asking the world to recognize the genocide of the Ukrainian people and we don’t want to support even the debate about the genocide of the Uighurs.”
The decision was also criticized by the opposition: Mykola Knyazhytskyi, People’s Deputy from “European Solidarity” wrote:
“It’s a shame. After the indignation of the allies and Ukrainians’ rejection of the position of our representatives in the UN institutions regarding the voting on the discussion of the genocide of the Uyghurs in China, Ukraine changed its position. Would you like it that way.”
The People’s Deputy adds that in this way Western countries noted “significant harm in the highest human rights body of the UN.”
According to People’s Deputy Oleksandr Merezhko, Ukrainian diplomats changed their position the day after the vote precisely because of the wave of indignation both in Ukraine and abroad. For example, members of the House of Lords of Great Britain David Altonwho reports on his human rights work, wrote that it is “particularly difficult” to determine Ukraine’s abstention from voting in the UN Human Rights Council.
“Countries cannot stand aside when the very survival of the people is at stake. Ukraine should understand this better than others,” says Alton.
RFE/RL appealed to the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN in Geneva to clarify the position of the Ukrainian side in the vote, as well as why its report later changed, but at the time of publication of this material we have not received an answer.
“Don’t annoy the dragon»
It is important that the resolution, which did not support Ukraine, did not actually recognize the actions of the Chinese government in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China as genocide, but only proposed to discuss the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the alleged crimes of the Chinese authorities.
The US State Department approved this report the day before, and as People’s Deputy Oleksandr Merezhko says, they were very much looking forward to its discussion at the UN.
“This report deepens and confirms our grave concern about the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the (Chinese – ed.) government against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang,” it said at the outset. September, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
Why did the Ukrainian side abstain from voting for the document? In a conversation with Radio Liberty, the head of the Asia-Pacific Department of the Kyiv Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Research Yuri Poita suggests that there is still a part of the leader in the Ukrainian government, which nevertheless believes that China’s position in the Russian-Ukrainian war can be changed to Ukraine’s cooperation: “this is such a strategy “not to annoy the dragon (China – ed.) at a time when when Ukraine fights with a bear (Russia – ed.)”.
On the other hand, says Poita, there is also an economic factor.
In 2019, China became the largest trade partner of Ukraine, and according to the results of 2021, China accounted for approximately 15% of Ukrainian exports.
The protest now Ukraine is no longer dependent on China, says the expert. He emphasizes that Kyiv’s efforts to “please” Beijing are unlikely to work.
Citing Chinese analysts, Poita says: “China is not taking any step that would call into question Beijing’s cooperation with Moscow. Based on this, we can conclude that China perceives Ukraine as Russia’s sphere of influence.”
Member of the board of the Ukrainian Association of Chinese Studies Oleksiy Koval in a conversation with RFE/RL he says: “I don’t see pressure from China, I see Ukraine’s reluctance to quarrel with China, and these are other things.”
Oleksandr Merezhko believes that the thesis that the government of the People’s Republic of China can change its war policy towards Ukraine due to certain diplomatic moves by Kyiv. In a commentary to Radio Liberty, he says that China does not perceive Ukraine as a full-fledged subject of international politics. Therefore, Kyiv’s efforts not to provoke the PRC are irrelevant. According to Merezhka, the only thing that keeps China from providing direct military-technical assistance to Russia is some sanctions from the United States.
But in fact, China is already on Russia’s side, because at least it buys Russian energy sources, says Merezhko. According to him, now “China is financing the Russian military machine instead of Europe”.
What does Ukraine risk?
Artur Kharitonov notes that the price of the “Chinese” issue may be the risk of losing financial support for Ukraine from Western countries.
Oleksandr Merezhko is sure that aid to Ukraine will not stop, but the next position of Kyiv regarding the support of democracy in global issues, such as the probable beginning of the genocide of the Uyghurs, will ensure the stability of such support: “consider us our own, completely our own in the sense that we are on the side of democracy, and we do not try to maneuver between authoritarian regimes and democracy, to maneuver between the values that we officially declare and some economic interests.”
Yuriy Poita adds that abstaining from voting in the UN Council can affect the prospects of Ukraine’s membership in NATO: If Ukraine wants to join NATO, then Kyiv must support the organization’s values.
But there are also purely image losses that Kyiv can learn.
“This resolution was sponsored by our closest allies and partners: the United States, Germany, 17 truly democratic countries… It was unfortunate to see Ukraine not among democratic countries, but among countries that are authoritarian or semi-authoritarian. This is a very bad signal,” Oleksandr Merezhko commented on the voting results in a conversation with Radio Liberty.