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Somalia Voted With China’s Critics at the UN Human Rights Council to Initiate a Debate on Xinjiang. But Why?

by Eric Olander
The YES votes that lost a motion to initiate a debate on China's human rights policies in Xinjiang.

Somalia was a standout last week when it was the only African country and the only Muslim-majority country to back a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council that called for a debate over China’s human rights policies in Xinjiang.

The fact that an African country would join China’s critics in the West and Asia on an issue as politically sensitive as Xinjiang is not unprecedented. For example, Liberia last year signed on as one of only two African states to support a French-led joint statement that “expressed concern about the human rights situation in Xinjiang.”

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