Bare-knuckle diplomacy shames only itself: China Daily editorial

Is it due to pressure from China that Ukraine has withdrawn from the joint statement at the 47th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council criticizing China's policies in its Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region?

To suggest so, as some have done, implies Ukraine has no mind of its own and cannot make its own decisions.

It also flies in the face of the fact that China has never exerted pressure on any country to influence what they want to say on any international occasion. No country has the right to pressure another country to do what they don't want to do.

Ukraine withdrew from the joint statement for the same reason that many countries disagreed with the statement in the first place, as they know that the allegations about the so-called human rights abuses against Uygurs are not true. The allegations are simply further attempts to interfere in China's internal affairs.

The fact that some countries such as Benin were forced by Canada to be put on the list of those supporting a declaration denouncing what it alleges is China's use of "arbitrary detention" in February reveals the tip of an iceberg about all kinds of despicable means countries such as Canada and the United States have deployed to pressure developing countries not to support China.

They have even threatened to cut off assistance or sanction officials if they refuse to participate in their actions against China. Some countries say that the US aims to control and restrain other countries, and disobedience entails punishment and suppression.

Such acts are against diplomatic ethics and norms of international relations. Nothing is more reprehensible than such bare-knuckle diplomacy.

Developed powers as they are, instead of setting a good example of diplomacy, the US and Canada are trying to ride rough shod over other countries, believing that the ends can justify the means. They are sparing no dirty means to smear China with a view to containing its rise.

Yet they can never make all countries submit to their will. The majority of countries will come to the support of China when the US and its allies launch a new round of their campaign to tell lies about and smear China.

Every time Western countries try to smear and attack China at the UN under the pretext of human rights, the majority of countries will step up to defend justice and the truth.

China has done the right thing for the well-being of all ethnic minorities in its Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. It disdains to woo international support for its position through illegal means and it leaves such devious schemes to the US and its allies.