Australia defends human rights record after scathing China attack
Australia has defended its human rights record in the face of a scathing unfounded attack from China in front of the United Nations.
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Australia has defended its human rights record in the face of a scathing unfounded attack from China in front of the United Nations, as Twitter cracks down on a major Beijing social media account.
Chinese officials accused the Morrison government of using “false information” to make “baseless” charges against other countries during a four-yearly review of Australia’s human rights records.
Liberal MP and former diplomat Dave Sharma told The Daily Telegraph China should be examining its own human rights issues.
“It is a shame that China sought to derail and politicise a process that Australia takes seriously, which is the periodic review by other nations of our own human rights record,” he said. “It would be welcome if China addressed human rights issues with appropriate concern, including those within its own borders.”
A government spokesman said Australia was “transparent” and did not “shy away” from considering its own human rights record.
The government has not directly responded to China’s attacks, but the spokesman said Australia was committed to the UN process of reviewing every nations’ human rights problems.
“Australia also raises its human rights concerns about other countries respectfully and constructively,” he said.
Australia has previously joined with the international community in condemning Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghur people, who are a religious minority in China.
It was revealed on Thursday Twitter had locked the official account for the Chinese Embassy to the US after a post defending Beijing’s policies in parts of Xinjiang, where there have been accusations of forced sterilisation of Uyghur women.
The tweet, which said Uyghur women were no longer “baby-making machines,” was posted on January 7 and removed by Twitter 24 hours later.
Account owners are still required to manually delete a post Twitter has removed for breaching its rules, but it has been confirmed the Chinese Embassy account has not yet done so.
As a result the Embassy has not been allowed to continue posting from the account.
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