Australian leader rejects Beijing’s claims that his country is riddled with “racism and hate crimes”

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected Beijing’s accusations that his country is “plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes” after an Australian diplomat led a group of Western countries to renew concerns about human rights abuses in China .

“When it comes to China, we have said that we will cooperate wherever possible, disagree where necessary, and pursue our national interests, and we have raised human rights issues with China.” Albanese told reporters as he arrived in the Pacific Island nation of Samoa on Thursday for a summit of Commonwealth leaders.

A day earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian cited this week’s 15-nation report to the United Nations General Assembly – presented by a senior Australian envoy – highlighting “ongoing concerns” about “serious human rights violations” in Xinjiang and Tibet. He condemned a statement. .

Australia’s UN Ambassador James Larsen called on China to “fulfill its voluntarily undertaken international human rights obligations” by releasing all individuals arbitrarily detained in both Xinjiang and Tibet and urgently clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing family members. he called. ”

Jian said on Wednesday that the statement amounted to “political manipulation under the pretext of human rights.”

Jian, who singled out Australia for rebuke, said the country had “long been plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes” and should sort out its own affairs rather than criticize China.

Albanese said Australia would “always defend Australia’s interests” and had raised the human rights issue “consistently and clearly” with Beijing.

The Chinese government stepped in in 2017 assimilation campaign In the northwestern Xinjiang region, home to 11 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities mass arrests, claim to political doctrine, allegation of family separation And Allegation of forced labor among other methods.

More than 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other ethnic minorities are estimated to be detained illegal concentration camps. At that time, the Chinese government described the camps as follows: vocational training centers.”

The UN Human Rights Office found accusations of rights violations in Xinjiang in 2022 “credible” and said China may have committed these violations crimes against humanity in the region.

Larson also mentioned “credible” reports in his statement. China subjugates Tibetans forced labor, separation of children from their families, erosion of cultural and religious freedoms, and detention for peaceful political protests.

He called for “unrestricted and meaningful access” to Xinjiang and Tibet for independent observers.

“No country has a perfect human rights record, but no country is above fair scrutiny for its human rights obligations,” Larson added.

In response, Jian condemned Australia’s hypocrisy, citing the country’s treatment of refugees, immigrants and indigenous people.

“Australian soldiers committed heinous crimes in Afghanistan and other countries during their overseas military operations,” Jian said.

Jian appears to be referring to allegations that elite Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians between 2005 and 2016, leading to the recent arrest of several senior military officials. his medals were taken away. Australia’s past policy of not allowing asylum seekers trying to reach its shores by boat to settle in the country is also frequently cited by China as damaging the country’s stance on human rights.

of Beijing Economic ties with Canberra are unraveling after several years of official and unofficial trade blockades. But relations remain strained over human rights and geopolitical issues as China becomes more militarily aggressive in the Asia-Pacific region and Australia moves closer to Western intelligence-sharing partners, particularly the United States.

Chinese Premier Qiang Li said during a meeting: State visit to Australia He said in June that he had reached an agreement with the Albanians to “properly manage” their countries’ differences.

But Justin Bassi, chief executive of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said China’s rebuke this week was an “overreaction” aimed at warning Canberra to act tougher.

“Australia was offering Beijing a compromise by limiting the most inevitable criticism of China to statements made by officials rather than ministers,” Bassi said. “Instead of seeing this as a gain, China is responding harshly.”

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Associated Press writer Rod McGuirk contributed to this report from Melbourne, Australia, and Keiran Smith from Newcastle, Australia.