Uyghur Congress President Rebiya Kadeer
(Photo: World Bulletin)
Heated debates arose during a Human Rights in China meeting organised in Geneva by the UN. The meeting was attended by Chinese diplomats as well as representatives of the occupied territories of East Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet who gave examples of oppression, persecution and human rights violations under Chinese occupation. The meeting was marked by the diplomatically discourteous actions of the Chinese representatives.
A Chinese diplomat stated that no states named East Turkestan, Inner Mongolia and Tibet existed in China, and that they were historically Chinese territory. World Uyghur Congress President Rebiya Kadeer responded: “We came here to discuss the issue of human rights, not land… History is to be written by historians. You are diplomats, not historians. The Chinese Communist Party cannot write the history of my country.”
During the debates, Chinese diplomats caused a scandal by furiously throwing down the microphones placed on their table by media representatives.
In addressing the issue of other ethnic minorities, Kadeer said, “You kill the Tibetan people because they want you to implement the autonomy you have provided them!… You are accusing us Uyghurs and the Mongols living in Inner Mongolia of separatism since we demand our natural and human rights!”
Kadeer continued, “Occupied land never belongs to the occupier. You invaded our territory in 1949.”
The heated debate and verbal exchanges were a first in United Nations history.
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