ABSTRACT
The Chinese government purports to refrain from country-specific human rights criticism. But China’s voting and statements in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) reveal that China is selective in its approach to country-specific human rights criticism. More specifically, if the government committing human rights abuses is from the Global North (e.g. Israel or the US), then China denounces such governments for human rights abuses. However, if the governments of developing countries are abusing the human rights of their own people (e.g. Syria, Iraq, or North Korea), or if a country with whom China has strong ties (e.g. Russia) is violating human rights in other countries, then China does not denounce such governments in the UNGA. In short, China sides with the governments of developing countries on human rights issues in the UNGA. We should expect this pattern to continue.
