The bitter debate over human rights in Xinjiang flared anew this week at the United Nations when Canada’s UN ambassador Bob Rae read a joint statement on behalf of 50 countries at a meeting of the General Assembly’s human rights committee. The joint statement called on China to recognize the findings of a recent UN human rights office report that found that the treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang may constitute “crimes against humanity.”

As is common whenever Western countries publish these joint statements on Xinjiang, China responds by rallying its coalition of Global South countries with a counter-statement of its own that declares Xinjiang and other territorial or human rights issues are internal affairs and not subject to UN or other international oversight.