Vanuatu joins China’s islands cheer squad against foreign ‘interference’ over human rights
Vanuatu is the latest of Australia’s Pacific partners to throw its support behind China as it pushes back against global criticism of its human rights abuses.
Vanuatu is the latest of Australia’s Pacific partners to throw its support behind China as it pushes back against global criticism of its human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet, heightening concerns the island country has drifted further into Beijing’s strategic orbit.
The Pacific Islands country joined Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Kiribati to back a statement to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, condemning foreign “interference” in Beijing’s sovereign affairs. They were among 69 countries to back the statement, including Russia, North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
“Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet-related issues are China’s internal affairs,” the Cuban-led statement said. “We oppose politicisation of human rights and double standards, or interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights.”
PNG, Solomon Islands and Kiribati backed a similar statement last year, but it was the first time Vanuatu had sided with China on the matter.
The move, which effectively endorses Chinese repression of its Muslim and Tibetan minorities, and political protesters in Hong Kong, is being read by strategists as a sign of Vanuatu’s growing strategic alignment with China.
At the same time, Australia was among 47 countries to back an opposing Netherlands-led statement expressing “grave concern” about the human rights situations in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
The statements come ahead of a report by UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on human rights violations in Xinjiang, following what China called “a friendly visit” that should not be seen as an “‘investigation under the presumption of guilt”.
ANU researcher Graeme Smith, an expert on Chinese influence in the Pacific, said Tonga was a “notable absence” on the pro-China list after its endorsement of last year’s statement.
He said the list of countries defending Beijing’s human rights violations was a reflection of those that were “more economically beholden to China than other countries”. “Once you have signed on to the Belt and Road Initiative, there is an expectation that when you are called upon you will step up,” Dr Smith said.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Justin Bassi said Pacific nations’ criticism of Australia for describing the region as its “backyard” was in stark contrast to their inability to express concern “about Beijing’s climate hypocrisy or its treatment of Muslim and Christian minorities”.
He suggested Pacific backers of China’s human right abuses had been won over “elite capture and fear of economic coercion”.
“For a region which prides itself on sovereignty and religious freedom, it reveals that access to money is a powerful driver of many elite choices and decisions across the Pacific,” Mr Bassi said.
He said Australia needed to work more closely with regional partners to strengthen their confidence that standing by the rule of law and protecting human rights “will not result in punishment”.
Human Rights Watch Australia researcher Sophie McNeill said the votes “show how much work Australia has to do in the Pacific … It’s why … we have called on the Albanese government to strengthen support for the rule of law, transparency and accountability in the region, and reinvest in development aid that boosts civil society.”
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