UN committee must remain objective to keep its credibility

It must have perplexed anyone who has learned about Hong Kong through firsthand observation that the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has come up with “concluding observations” that are so inaccurate and slanderous about the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

It is widely known that some anti-China Western politicians and organizations such as the London-based Hong Kong Watch fed the UN body with numerous submissions inundated with fabricated yet slanderous information about the human rights situation in Hong Kong, before and during the UN body’s review of the city’s performance in protecting residents’ various rights.

The UN body’s lopsided and logically flawed “concluding observations” on Hong Kong’s human rights situation deserved the strong objection expressed by the HKSAR government

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An HKSAR government delegation tried its best to rectify the committee’s misunderstandings over the human rights situation and social development in Hong Kong with detailed explanations when the UN body considered the HKSAR’s fourth report at its meetings on Feb 15-16.

To the satisfaction of Hong Kong Watch and the likes, the committee’s “concluding observations” about Hong Kong basically mirrored the narratives they have presented to the UN body in their submissions. Obviously, the UN body has given far more weight to the distorted narratives of those China-bashers than the explanations of the Hong Kong delegation when coming up with its “concluding observations”. This despite the open secret that the raison d’etre of the likes of Hong Kong Watch is to vilify China, including its HKSAR.

The UN body’s lopsided and logically flawed “concluding observations” on Hong Kong’s human rights situation deserved the strong objection expressed by the HKSAR government in a statement issued on Tuesday, which condemned the committee for politicizing its work in considering the report.

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The question of whether, or how, the committee has allowed its work to be politicized is a good subject for investigative journalism. This UN body risks losing its credibility until it comes up with convincing explanations.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.