MANILA, Philippines — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has vowed to defend the Philippines at the United Nations and in other international human rights forums.
“China is continuing to provide support in terms of assistance in intelligence sharing and capacity building. We are going to speak up for the just causes of the Philippines in the United Nations, UN human rights organizations and other multinational occasions,” Wang was quoted by state news website Xinhua.
China’s foreign minister made the statement amid questions over reports of mass camps in the western territory of Xinjiang, where members of its Uighur minority are reportedly being held as part of a counterterrorism program.
China has, in the past, defended the Philippine government’s campaign against illegal drugs against concerns on alleged human rights abuses. In 2017, its Foreign Ministry told the UN that “drugs are the common enemy for all human beings.”
“We hope the international community can respect the judicial sovereignty of the Philippines and support its efforts in fighting drug-related crimes through cooperation,” a ministry spokesperson also said then.
The Philippine National Police said in June that it had recorded 22,983 cases of “deaths under inquiry” since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said earlier this month that 4,948 “drug personalities” have been killed in anti-drug operations since the “war on drugs” started.
China, in March, also expressed support for the Philippines’ decision to withdraw ratification of the Statute of Rome and leave the International Criminal Court after its prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced a preliminary examination into alleged abuses in the Philippines’ campaign against illegal drugs.
“The international community should give more understanding and support to those efforts instead of pointing fingers and casting blames,” China’s foreign ministry said then.
The ICC prosecutor’s preliminary examination remains a sore point for the president, who rants against Bensouda and the court in his speeches.
Duterte has also been slammed by human rights organizations for his mysogynist comments and for attacking women’s rights defenders.