In August 2022, following the release of a report by then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, which asserted that China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang “may constitute… crimes against humanity”, many countries in the Global South, particularly in Africa and Asia, reacted in a perplexing manner. Rather than maintaining a neutral stance on the reported atrocities, Pakistan spearheaded a coalition of 70 nations in opposing the UN Human Rights Council’s perceived ‘interference’ in China’s domestic affairs about a month after the report’s publication. Notably, this coalition included 14 Arab nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.
In October of the same year, a UNHRC vote to discuss the report was unsuccessful, as several Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, the UAE, and Somalia, voted against it. These nations were joined by nearly all but three African countries in the Council. In contrast, when former Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou presented a case to the international rights body in 2019 against Aung San Suu Kyi for her treatment of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, he received strong backing from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which comprises 57 Muslim countries, including 27 from Africa.
China’s deliberate strategy to revise the global order is rooted in its advocacy of a strict interpretation of Westphalian sovereignty, which prioritises non-interference in domestic affairs over universal human rights. This principle, adopted at the June 2018 Central Foreign Affairs Work Conference, has been a driving force in China’s foreign policy.
To achieve its goal of reforming international institutions and norms, Beijing has focused its efforts on the Global South, particularly Africa and Asia, which together constitute 55 per cent of the votes in the United Nations General Assembly. China’s tactic has been to construct an alternative force of numbers rather than relying on the individual influence of a single country. This trend has resulted in a large number of Global South countries backing China and echoing its stance on sovereignty, even if it means disregarding universal human rights.
In recent years, China has steadily increased its financial and personnel contributions to global and multilateral development institutions. A report from 2020 indicated that China ranks second, behind the United States, in assessed contributions to both the UN’s regular and peacekeeping budgets. Additionally, China has strategically focused on leveraging the representational power of the Global South within the UN. It positions itself as the leader of the developing world, ready to challenge the West’s frameworks regarding human rights, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), and imposed liberalism.
By emphasising principles such as non-interference, development, South-South cooperation, and the use of multilateral institutions, China claims to advocate for the interests of the Global South. However, the emerging solidarity between Beijing and various African and Asian nations is not solely based on ideological alignment.
Beijing’s dependence on African nations in international forums dates back to the 1971 UN General Assembly debate concerning the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) admission to the UN and the expulsion of Taiwan, a development significantly influenced by African votes. For over three decades, China’s foreign minister has prioritised visits to Africa at the start of each year, underscoring its gratitude and deep interest in the continent. Currently, only one African nation, Eswatini, recognises Taiwan, while the remainder adhere to the ‘one China principle’. Furthermore, bilateral and collective agreements between African countries and China emphasise mutual cooperation in global governance matters.
With the backing of the African Union, China successfully passed its first resolution in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), titled ‘The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of Human Rights’. Three years later, another resolution proposed by China was adopted, supported by all but one African member. These resolutions reflect China’s attempt to legitimise an alternative vision of human rights, centred on state-led economic development and the principle of non-interference. In fact, several African nations even supported China’s unsuccessful attempts to defund human rights monitors and NGO observers during the 2018-19 UN budget discussions. Unsurprisingly, in recent years, very few African countries have endorsed draft resolutions at the UN that criticise China’s policies regarding Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet.
One significant factor contributing to the solidarity among authoritarian regimes is their collaboration on human rights issues, which serves to bolster their political stability and international legitimacy. In West Asia, the challenges related to women, political dissidents, and religious and ethnic minorities present complex dilemmas that these governments often address through the principle of non-interference. Consequently, they endorse Beijing’s narrative regarding Xinjiang, framing it as a matter of terrorism, extremism, and separatism. This was exemplified in 2023 when the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) visited Xinjiang and publicly commended the activities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the region.
Moreover, economic considerations also drive this emerging ‘South-South cooperation’. For many West Asian countries, following decades of Western intervention, China is viewed as a more dependable partner, having recently become the primary foreign investor in the region. Chinese economic and strategic influence has surged, particularly after the Arab Spring and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and is expected to grow further following the US withdrawal from the region.
For Africa, the situation is somewhat more complex. Under President Xi Jinping’s vision of the ‘Great Rejuvenation’ and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the continent has become a central focus of China’s economic and infrastructural efforts. As the largest bilateral trade partner and creditor for Africa, China’s extensive ‘no-strings-attached’ lending practices towards vulnerable African nations have resulted in many becoming economically entrapped or reliant on Beijing.
Consequently, Beijing’s economic initiatives towards these nations and its promotion of South-South development cooperation represent a strategic effort to establish itself as a hegemonic power within the evolving global order. This dual strategy of fostering economic dependence among susceptible countries while simultaneously empowering authoritarian regimes has proven advantageous for China as it gradually ascends the ranks of global influence.
The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. His X handle is @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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