TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s parliament on Tuesday passed a resolution on the “grave human rights situation” in China and called on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government to take steps to improve the situation, as at the end of the week the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Japan has already announced that it will not send a government delegation to the Beijing Olympics, imitating the diplomatic boycott initiated by the United States which cited the human rights situation in China – which did not explicitly does Tokyo.
Since coming to power last October, Fumio Kishida has repeatedly indicated that Japan will not mince words about China when necessary. In November, he appointed former defense minister Gen Nakatani as human rights adviser.
Adopted by the lower house of parliament, the resolution notes that the international community has raised concerns about confinement and the violation of religious freedoms in the Xinjiang region, Tibet and Hong Kong.
The question of human rights cannot be only domestic because, it is written in the text, these are “universal values” and a “legitimate reason for concern for the international community”, for which the no – respect for human rights is a “threat”.
Washington, which denounces Beijing’s genocide against the Muslim Ughur community, last month banned imports from Xinjiang, expressing concern about forced labor imposed on the Ughurs.
Beijing denies any abuse in Xinjiang, a cotton-producing region that also supplies many countries with the materials needed to produce solar panels.
According to the Jiji news agency, the conservative wing of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in power Tokyo wanted the adoption of the parliamentary resolution before the opening of the Beijing Olympics on February 4, despite concerns within the government. on a potential economic impact.
Within the ranks of the LDP, there have been long-standing differences on the position to adopt with regard to China, between the partisans of a hard line who privilege the questions of defense and those favorable to protecting the close economic links maintained by the Japan with its neighbour.
The resolution calls on the Japanese government to work with the international community on the issue of human rights in China to implement “comprehensive alleviation measures”.
It does not mention China directly and does not include phrases like “human rights abuses”, instead using “human rights situation” – a cautious approach that could be intended to protect China-China economic ties. Japanese.
(Report Kiyoshi Takenaka; French version Jean Terzian)
by Kiyoshi Takenaka