Criticism of the government’s China policy after Xinjiang reports
Berlin (dpa) – After the latest reports on China’s treatment of minorities, the human rights commissioner of the federal government, Luise Amtsberg (Greens), has called for a significant change in German China policy.
“There must not be another one like this in our bilateral relations,” Amtsberg told the editorial network Germany. “We need an open debate about our economic dependencies on states that have such a frightening human rights record.” This has already been shown by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
First of all, it must be ensured that German companies do not purchase products that were manufactured in forced labor. “German companies and the German federal government are directly responsible for this,” Amtsberg said. The German Supply chain Law provides a framework, but must be improved taking into account UN requirements. China must also be dealt with more decisively in international forums. It is a problem that China is withdrawing from international jurisdiction.
Amtsberg called on the UN Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to quickly publish her report on human rights violations in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. This is central, Amtsberg said. Bachelet’s current trip to China is correct. “However, it must mark the beginning of a clarification of the allegations, precisely because we have to assume that Bachelet will not get unhindered access.”
Uyghur President: criteria for genocide have long been given
The highest representative of the Uyghur exile organization “World Congress of Uyghurs” criticized the federal government for its handling of China. “I don’t think the federal government is doing enough. There are human rights violations in many places, but this is about genocide,” Dolkun Isa told Der Spiegel. He did not want to compare the fate of the Uyghurs with the Holocaust, but the criteria for “a genocide according to the UN Convention on International Law” had “been in place for a long time”. The parliaments in the USA, Canada and the Netherlands have therefore been talking “about a genocide for a long time”, but not Germany.