China rejects key Western calls for human rights reforms at UN meeting

GENEVA –

China on Thursday rejected Western recommendations for human rights reforms, including calls for greater freedoms in Hong Kong and for Uighurs in Xinjiang, but accepted others from its allies as it sought to defend its record at a UN meeting.

The UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva concludes a review process in which Beijing is struggling to fend off criticism following a 2022 UN report that said the detention of Uighurs and other Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region may amount to crimes against humanity. China denies any abuses.

Council President Omar Zniber said China had accepted nearly 70 percent of the more than 400 reform recommendations received as part of the UN review.