美国国家公共电台 NPR--UN report says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang

UN report says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang

Transcript¹

A crackdown in the Chinese region of Xinjiang (sheen-jang) may constitute crimes against humanity. That's according to a long-delayed United Nations human rights report.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

After long delays, the United Nations has offered an assessment² of China's treatment of Uyghurs.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

For weeks, it wasn't clear if the Human Rights Report would be published at all, but it came out yesterday, just minutes before the U.N.'s top human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, stepped down from her post.

INSKEEP: NPR's China correspondent Emily Feng is covering this story. Emily, welcome.

EMILY FENG, BYLINE³: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: Why would there have been suspense⁴ over publishing this report at all?

FENG: Well, there was a lot of effort from China to stymie⁵ this report. About 10 months ago, Bachelet said her office was going to compile this report on Xinjiang, but China quickly tried to stymie the report. Reuters actually reported earlier this summer that China was circulating a petition to bury it. And then Bachelet herself admitted last month that she had received, quote, "substantial input⁶" from China, who is a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, and she was under, quote, "tremendous pressure" to publish or not to publish the report. Zhang Jun, who is China's ambassador to the U.N., yesterday made no bones about the fact that China did not want this report out.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ZHANG JUN: We all know so well that the so-called Xinjiang issue is a completely fabricated lie out of political motivations. Its purpose definitely is to undermine China's stability.

FENG: But as you mentioned, literally⁷ about 10 minutes before Bachelet's tenure⁸ was officially over at midnight in Geneva, the report still came out, and it actually went way beyond the admittedly low expectations that people had for it.

INSKEEP: Oh. Well, then what did it say?

FENG: It was very systematic⁹. Xinjiang, just as a reminder¹⁰, is in western China. It's where authorities have detained and imprisoned¹¹ at least hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic¹² minorities under initiatives it claims are to combat terrorism and promote economic development. But this U.N. report found that China's counterterrorism laws are overly broad, that ethnic minorities are detained for, quote, "apparently¹³ no legal basis, against their will," that the extensive policing and surveillance in the region appears discriminatory against certain religious, ethnic and cultural groups, and that some of the harsh treatment and sexual abuse of Uyghurs in detention¹⁴ amounts to torture.

But the report does skirt around one big question, and that is whether all of this that I've just described amounts to genocide, which is a designation Uyghur activists¹⁵ were for pushing for. But that's just not mentioned in the report at all.

INSKEEP: OK, so they don't use the G word, but they give a lot of details. Does this report make any difference?

FENG: Likely not, and that's because the report's recommendations are nearly completely reliant on cooperation with China, which has already condemned¹⁶ the report. Bachelet's report does not call for a formal U.N. investigation¹⁷ but rather asks China to self-investigate and provide more information to international groups. I spoke¹⁸ to Sophie Richardson - she's the China director at advocacy group Human Rights Watch - about what that means.

SOPHIE RICHARDSON: Three decades of exactly those kinds of dialogues have conveyed to Beijing a sense of impunity¹⁹. They have never served to hold the Chinese government accountable for progressively more serious human rights violations²⁰ or impose any consequences for committing them.

FENG: That being said, it's still a big deal that the report came out and that it was so detailed²¹ in its accusations²² against China because this is now officially the U.N. stance on human rights conditions in Xinjiang, and so it will be much harder for China going forward to paint an alternate reality of what it claims is actually happening there.

INSKEEP: Emily, thanks for your insights, as always.

FENG: Thanks, Steve.

INSKEEP: Good to talk with you. NPR's Emily Feng.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

5 stymie   

v.妨碍，阻挠

参考例句：

• Companies have been stymied by the length of time it takes to reach an agreement.由于耗时过长，各公司一直未能达成协议。
• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen.最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。

6 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

9 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

10 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

11 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

12 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

17 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

18 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

19 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

20 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

21 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

22 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。