‘China has always advocated not forgetting history,’ says UN envoy after opposing Bosnian genocide motion
Hong Kong Free Press
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
China voted against a move to mark the Bosnian genocide at the UN last Thursday, saying the resolution’s drafting was “hasty” and controversial.
The General Assembly nevertheless passed a motion to commemorate the crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing campaign which took place in the former Yugoslavia between 1992 and 1995.
It is estimated that over 100,000 people were killed in the conflict, including over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who were executed en masse in July 1995 by the army of Republika Srpska, also known as the Bosnian Serb army, in the besieged enclave of Srebrenica.
“China has always advocated not forgetting history, learning from history, and preventing the recurrence of tragedies,” UN envoy Fu Cong said, according to China’s UN office on Thursday.
“We hope that all ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina would demonstrate tolerance and reconciliation, move forward in unity and solidarity, and work together to maintain peace and stability in the country, so as to promote economic and social development,” he added.
China was among 19 countries to vote against establishing the International Day of Reflection and Commemoration of the 1995 Genocide in Srebrenica, which will be observed on July 11 each year. Others who voted in opposition included Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Serbia and Syria.
There were 68 abstentions, though the motion passed with 84 voting in favour. The resolution was co-sponsored by over 40 countries and only needed a simple majority to pass.
‘Hasty voting… major differences’
Fu said the draft resolution had sparked controversy and was not in line with the desire to maintain peace and stability: “The hasty voting on the draft resolution, which is still marked by major differences, is not in line with the spirit of reconciliation or harmony within Bosnia and Herzegovina… For that reason, China will have no alternative but to vote against this draft resolution.”
In 2007, the International Court of Justice ruled that the massacres in eastern Bosnia constituted genocide. Decades on from the deadly violence, deep ethnic divisions remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is embroiled in an escalating political crisis that could affect its territorial integrity.
The president of Bosnia’s Serb-controlled Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik had threatened to secede from the country if the UN motion was passed.
Beijing itself has been criticised over its recent treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, as well as the Tiananmen crackdown which saw hundreds, perhaps thousands, killed in 1989.
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