Why African Nations Are Mostly Silent on China's Rights Record
为什么非洲国家对中国的权利记录大多保持沉默
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA —
南非约翰内斯堡——
Most African states have stayed silent as Western nations and rights groups condemn China over a recent United Nations human rights report on China's treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.
大多数非洲国家一直保持沉默，因为西方国家和人权组织就最近联合国人权报告中关于中国对待新疆地区维吾尔人和其他少数民族的行为谴责中国。
The report, published by then-U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on her last day in office in August, said China's actions against Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang region "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity," citing abuses such as arbitrary detention in camps, torture and sexual violence.
该报告由当时的联合国发表。人权事务负责人米歇尔·巴切莱特（Michelle Bachelet）在 8 月任职的最后一天表示，中国针对新疆地区维吾尔人和其他人的行动“可能构成国际罪行，尤其是危害人类罪”，理由是拘留营中任意拘留、酷刑和性虐待等虐待行为。暴力。
Some Western nations and their allies are now pushing for the U.N. to establish a commission of inquiry to further investigate the report's findings. But whether that happens depends on the number of member states who side with the West.
一些西方国家及其盟友现在正在推动联合国成立一个调查委员会，以进一步调查报告的调查结果。但是否会发生这种情况取决于支持西方的成员国数量。
China's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Chen Xu, delivered a joint statement September 13, during the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, saying the Xinjiang assessment was "based on disinformation and draws erroneous conclusions." The statement was signed by 28 other countries, with close to half of the supporters from African countries such as Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.
中国驻日内瓦联合国大使陈旭于 9 月 13 日在人权理事会第 51 届会议上发表联合声明，称新疆评估“基于虚假信息并得出错误结论”。该声明由其他28个国家签署，近一半的支持者来自布隆迪、喀麦隆、科摩罗、埃及、赤道几内亚、几内亚、厄立特里亚、埃塞俄比亚、塞拉利昂、南苏丹和津巴布韦等非洲国家。
Last year, out of 43 countries, only two in Africa, Eswatini and Liberia, signed a U.N. communique condemning China's policies in Xinjiang. In June, they signed again, but they are rare outliers.
去年，在 43 个国家中，只有斯威士兰和利比里亚两个非洲国家签署了联合国公报，谴责中国在新疆的政策。六月，他们再次签约，但他们是罕见的异常值。
South Africa, the continent's third-largest economy, neither signed the letter supporting China's position nor staked out a position critical of China. Analysts told VOA that South Africa — seen as the continent's leading democracy — has simply mostly remained silent on the issue.
非洲大陆第三大经济体南非既没有签署支持中国立场的信函，也没有表态批评中国。分析人士告诉美国之音，被视为非洲大陆领先民主国家的南非在这个问题上基本上保持沉默。
"South Africa, with its proud tradition as a shining example for human rights, struggles now, saying nothing about China's apartheid," said Magnus Fiskesjo, an associate professor at Cornell University's Department of Anthropology, alluding to a system of discrimination and segregation that took place in South Africa from 1948 to 1994
康奈尔大学人类学系副教授 Magnus Fiskesjo 说：“南非以其作为人权光辉榜样的光荣传统而奋斗，但对中国的种族隔离只字未提。” 1948 年至 1994 年在南非的位置
Officials from South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation did not respond to VOA's request for comment.
南非国际关系与合作部的官员没有回应美国之音的置评请求。
Siding with China
与中国站在一起
Cobus van Staden, a China-Africa expert at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said that because of China's economic clout, most African countries simply don't want to "pick a fight" over Xinjiang, which, to many, seems far away.
南非国际事务研究所中非专家科布斯·范斯塔登表示，由于中国的经济影响力，大多数非洲国家根本不想在新疆问题上“挑衅”，在许多人看来，新疆似乎遥不可及离开。
"We've seen most African countries side with China, and this includes a lot of majority Muslim countries. … In terms of how the African partners will vote on the human rights council [if there is a vote], I tend to fear that they will probably vote with China," he said.
“我们已经看到大多数非洲国家站在中国一边，其中包括许多占多数的穆斯林国家。……关于非洲伙伴将如何在人权理事会投票[如果有投票权]，我倾向于担心他们可能会投给中国，”他说。
There are reasons for this, he said. China is Africa's biggest trade partner, far outstripping the West, and a lot of African countries "tend to be quite suspicious of separatist movements and quite suspicious of militant or political Islam." Nigeria, for example, has been plagued by Islamist militant groups.
这是有原因的，他说。中国是非洲最大的贸易伙伴，远远超过西方，许多非洲国家“往往对分裂运动持怀疑态度，对激进或政治伊斯兰教持怀疑态度”。例如，尼日利亚一直受到伊斯兰激进组织的困扰。
Analysts say some African countries can relate to China's position, as stated by the state-run Xinhua news agency, that "Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights, ethnicity or religion at all but about combating violent terrorism and separatism."
分析人士说，一些非洲国家可以理解中国的立场，正如官方媒体新华社所说，“与新疆有关的问题根本不是人权、民族或宗教问题，而是打击暴力恐怖主义和分裂主义。”
Van Staden said that it all plays into the wider animus between the West and its former colonies on the continent, with some African states seeing the West's raising of rights issues such as Xinjiang as hypocritical considering the United States' rights violations at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
范斯塔登说，这一切都加剧了西方与其在非洲大陆的前殖民地之间更广泛的敌意，一些非洲国家认为西方提出新疆等权利问题是考虑到美国的权利是虚伪的关塔那摩湾和其他地方的违规行为。
African nations, according to observers, are also unwilling to alienate China, their Belt and Road initiative benefactor and the source of massive infrastructure loans.
据观察人士称，非洲国家也不愿疏远中国，中国是其“一带一路”倡议的捐助者和大量基础设施贷款的来源。
Beijing has been offering African diplomats trips to the Xinjiang region, trying to present its position. Xinhua reported last year that ambassadors to China from the Republic of Congo and Sudan defended Beijing's "anti-terrorism" efforts at a lecture in Beijing. Burkina Faso's ambassador to China, Adama Compaore, reportedly said "Western forces" were "hyping up" the issue."
北京一直在向非洲外交官提供前往新疆地区的旅行，试图表明其立场。新华社去年报道说，刚果共和国和苏丹驻华大使在北京的一次演讲中为北京的“反恐”努力辩护。据报道，布基纳法索驻华大使阿达玛·孔波雷说，“西方势力”正在“炒作”这个问题。”
Zeenat Adam, deputy executive director of the Afro-Middle East Center in Johannesburg and a former South African diplomat, said such tours by China are "a very strong marketing exercise of trying to continue their reach into Africa and by getting countries from within the African region … to see things from a Chinese government perspective."
约翰内斯堡非洲-中东中心副执行主任、前南非外交官泽纳特·亚当说，中国的此类访问是“一种非常强大的营销活动，试图继续进入非洲并让非洲内部的国家参与进来。地区……从中国政府的角度来看问题。”
"It ensures that their investments and their trade into Africa is unhindered and unquestioned," she added. "Investments from China are lucrative, not just for South Africa but for the entire African region, and this really affects the level of which any of these governments may question the mighty Chinese superpower regarding its policies on Muslims."
“这确保他们在非洲的投资和贸易不受阻碍和毫无疑问，”她补充说。 “来自中国的投资是有利可图的，不仅对南非，而且对整个非洲地区，这确实影响了这些政府中的任何一个对强大的中国超级大国对穆斯林政策提出质疑的程度。”
China's Muslim supporters
中国的穆斯林支持者
Egypt is among the Muslim countries in Africa that have supported China on the Uyghur issue, says Bradley Jardine, a political analyst who focuses on China and recently published a study for the Wilson Center on China's global campaign against the Uyghurs.
专注于中国的政治分析家布拉德利·贾丁 (Bradley Jardine) 表示，埃及是非洲穆斯林国家之一，他在维吾尔问题上支持中国，他最近为威尔逊中心发表了一份关于中国全球反维吾尔运动的研究报告。
Across the Muslim world, it's a very diverse region with very diverse strategic interests," he said. "There are a lot of economic interests at play, particularly [with] actors such as Egypt, who in 2017 detained hundreds of Uyghur students and deported them to China."
“在整个穆斯林世界，这是一个非常多样化的地区，具有非常多样化的战略利益，”他说。 “有很多经济利益在起作用，特别是像埃及这样的演员，他们在 2017 年拘留了数百名维吾尔学生并将他们驱逐到中国。
”Across the Muslim world, it's a very diverse region with very diverse strategic interests," he said. "There are a lot of economic interests at play, particularly [with] actors such as Egypt, who in 2017 detained hundreds of Uyghur students and deported them to China."
“在整个穆斯林世界，这是一个非常多样化的地区，具有非常多样化的战略利益，”他说。 “有很多经济利益在起作用，特别是像埃及这样的演员，他们在 2017 年拘留了数百名维吾尔学生并将他们驱逐到中国。”
According to Jardine's research, more than 1,500 Uyghurs abroad have been detained or extradited — many in North Africa.
根据怡和的研究，超过1,500 名海外维吾尔人被拘留或引渡，其中许多在北非。
Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said she sees a slight decline in joint statements with China on the Xinjiang issue. "The number of signatories has not only plateaued but, in fact, recently dropped."
人权观察非洲倡导主任卡琳·卡内扎·南图利亚（Carine Kaneza Nantulya）表示，她认为与中国在新疆问题上的联合声明略有下降。 “签署国的数量不仅停滞不前，而且事实上最近有所下降。”
"Plenty of other African states have abstained, declining to join China's counternarrative," she said, pointing to Eswatini and Liberia, who joined other countries in condemning China's policies in Xinjiang.
“许多其他非洲国家已经弃权，拒绝加入中国的反叙事，”她指着斯威士兰和利比里亚说与其他国家一起谴责中国在新疆的政策。
为什么非洲国家对中国的权利记录大多保持沉默
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA —
南非约翰内斯堡——
Most African states have stayed silent as Western nations and rights groups condemn China over a recent United Nations human rights report on China's treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region.
大多数非洲国家一直保持沉默，因为西方国家和人权组织就最近联合国人权报告中关于中国对待新疆地区维吾尔人和其他少数民族的行为谴责中国。
The report, published by then-U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet on her last day in office in August, said China's actions against Uyghurs and others in the Xinjiang region "may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity," citing abuses such as arbitrary detention in camps, torture and sexual violence.
该报告由当时的联合国发表。人权事务负责人米歇尔·巴切莱特（Michelle Bachelet）在 8 月任职的最后一天表示，中国针对新疆地区维吾尔人和其他人的行动“可能构成国际罪行，尤其是危害人类罪”，理由是拘留营中任意拘留、酷刑和性虐待等虐待行为。暴力。
Some Western nations and their allies are now pushing for the U.N. to establish a commission of inquiry to further investigate the report's findings. But whether that happens depends on the number of member states who side with the West.
一些西方国家及其盟友现在正在推动联合国成立一个调查委员会，以进一步调查报告的调查结果。但是否会发生这种情况取决于支持西方的成员国数量。
China's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Chen Xu, delivered a joint statement September 13, during the 51st session of the Human Rights Council, saying the Xinjiang assessment was "based on disinformation and draws erroneous conclusions." The statement was signed by 28 other countries, with close to half of the supporters from African countries such as Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Zimbabwe.
中国驻日内瓦联合国大使陈旭于 9 月 13 日在人权理事会第 51 届会议上发表联合声明，称新疆评估“基于虚假信息并得出错误结论”。该声明由其他28个国家签署，近一半的支持者来自布隆迪、喀麦隆、科摩罗、埃及、赤道几内亚、几内亚、厄立特里亚、埃塞俄比亚、塞拉利昂、南苏丹和津巴布韦等非洲国家。
Last year, out of 43 countries, only two in Africa, Eswatini and Liberia, signed a U.N. communique condemning China's policies in Xinjiang. In June, they signed again, but they are rare outliers.
去年，在 43 个国家中，只有斯威士兰和利比里亚两个非洲国家签署了联合国公报，谴责中国在新疆的政策。六月，他们再次签约，但他们是罕见的异常值。
South Africa, the continent's third-largest economy, neither signed the letter supporting China's position nor staked out a position critical of China. Analysts told VOA that South Africa — seen as the continent's leading democracy — has simply mostly remained silent on the issue.
非洲大陆第三大经济体南非既没有签署支持中国立场的信函，也没有表态批评中国。分析人士告诉美国之音，被视为非洲大陆领先民主国家的南非在这个问题上基本上保持沉默。
"South Africa, with its proud tradition as a shining example for human rights, struggles now, saying nothing about China's apartheid," said Magnus Fiskesjo, an associate professor at Cornell University's Department of Anthropology, alluding to a system of discrimination and segregation that took place in South Africa from 1948 to 1994
康奈尔大学人类学系副教授 Magnus Fiskesjo 说：“南非以其作为人权光辉榜样的光荣传统而奋斗，但对中国的种族隔离只字未提。” 1948 年至 1994 年在南非的位置
Officials from South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation did not respond to VOA's request for comment.
南非国际关系与合作部的官员没有回应美国之音的置评请求。
Siding with China
与中国站在一起
Cobus van Staden, a China-Africa expert at the South African Institute of International Affairs, said that because of China's economic clout, most African countries simply don't want to "pick a fight" over Xinjiang, which, to many, seems far away.
南非国际事务研究所中非专家科布斯·范斯塔登表示，由于中国的经济影响力，大多数非洲国家根本不想在新疆问题上“挑衅”，在许多人看来，新疆似乎遥不可及离开。
"We've seen most African countries side with China, and this includes a lot of majority Muslim countries. … In terms of how the African partners will vote on the human rights council [if there is a vote], I tend to fear that they will probably vote with China," he said.
“我们已经看到大多数非洲国家站在中国一边，其中包括许多占多数的穆斯林国家。……关于非洲伙伴将如何在人权理事会投票[如果有投票权]，我倾向于担心他们可能会投给中国，”他说。
There are reasons for this, he said. China is Africa's biggest trade partner, far outstripping the West, and a lot of African countries "tend to be quite suspicious of separatist movements and quite suspicious of militant or political Islam." Nigeria, for example, has been plagued by Islamist militant groups.
这是有原因的，他说。中国是非洲最大的贸易伙伴，远远超过西方，许多非洲国家“往往对分裂运动持怀疑态度，对激进或政治伊斯兰教持怀疑态度”。例如，尼日利亚一直受到伊斯兰激进组织的困扰。
Analysts say some African countries can relate to China's position, as stated by the state-run Xinhua news agency, that "Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights, ethnicity or religion at all but about combating violent terrorism and separatism."
分析人士说，一些非洲国家可以理解中国的立场，正如官方媒体新华社所说，“与新疆有关的问题根本不是人权、民族或宗教问题，而是打击暴力恐怖主义和分裂主义。”
Van Staden said that it all plays into the wider animus between the West and its former colonies on the continent, with some African states seeing the West's raising of rights issues such as Xinjiang as hypocritical considering the United States' rights violations at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.
范斯塔登说，这一切都加剧了西方与其在非洲大陆的前殖民地之间更广泛的敌意，一些非洲国家认为西方提出新疆等权利问题是考虑到美国的权利是虚伪的关塔那摩湾和其他地方的违规行为。
African nations, according to observers, are also unwilling to alienate China, their Belt and Road initiative benefactor and the source of massive infrastructure loans.
据观察人士称，非洲国家也不愿疏远中国，中国是其“一带一路”倡议的捐助者和大量基础设施贷款的来源。
Beijing has been offering African diplomats trips to the Xinjiang region, trying to present its position. Xinhua reported last year that ambassadors to China from the Republic of Congo and Sudan defended Beijing's "anti-terrorism" efforts at a lecture in Beijing. Burkina Faso's ambassador to China, Adama Compaore, reportedly said "Western forces" were "hyping up" the issue."
北京一直在向非洲外交官提供前往新疆地区的旅行，试图表明其立场。新华社去年报道说，刚果共和国和苏丹驻华大使在北京的一次演讲中为北京的“反恐”努力辩护。据报道，布基纳法索驻华大使阿达玛·孔波雷说，“西方势力”正在“炒作”这个问题。”
Zeenat Adam, deputy executive director of the Afro-Middle East Center in Johannesburg and a former South African diplomat, said such tours by China are "a very strong marketing exercise of trying to continue their reach into Africa and by getting countries from within the African region … to see things from a Chinese government perspective."
约翰内斯堡非洲-中东中心副执行主任、前南非外交官泽纳特·亚当说，中国的此类访问是“一种非常强大的营销活动，试图继续进入非洲并让非洲内部的国家参与进来。地区……从中国政府的角度来看问题。”
"It ensures that their investments and their trade into Africa is unhindered and unquestioned," she added. "Investments from China are lucrative, not just for South Africa but for the entire African region, and this really affects the level of which any of these governments may question the mighty Chinese superpower regarding its policies on Muslims."
“这确保他们在非洲的投资和贸易不受阻碍和毫无疑问，”她补充说。 “来自中国的投资是有利可图的，不仅对南非，而且对整个非洲地区，这确实影响了这些政府中的任何一个对强大的中国超级大国对穆斯林政策提出质疑的程度。”
China's Muslim supporters
中国的穆斯林支持者
Egypt is among the Muslim countries in Africa that have supported China on the Uyghur issue, says Bradley Jardine, a political analyst who focuses on China and recently published a study for the Wilson Center on China's global campaign against the Uyghurs.
专注于中国的政治分析家布拉德利·贾丁 (Bradley Jardine) 表示，埃及是非洲穆斯林国家之一，他在维吾尔问题上支持中国，他最近为威尔逊中心发表了一份关于中国全球反维吾尔运动的研究报告。
Across the Muslim world, it's a very diverse region with very diverse strategic interests," he said. "There are a lot of economic interests at play, particularly [with] actors such as Egypt, who in 2017 detained hundreds of Uyghur students and deported them to China."
“在整个穆斯林世界，这是一个非常多样化的地区，具有非常多样化的战略利益，”他说。 “有很多经济利益在起作用，特别是像埃及这样的演员，他们在 2017 年拘留了数百名维吾尔学生并将他们驱逐到中国。
”Across the Muslim world, it's a very diverse region with very diverse strategic interests," he said. "There are a lot of economic interests at play, particularly [with] actors such as Egypt, who in 2017 detained hundreds of Uyghur students and deported them to China."
“在整个穆斯林世界，这是一个非常多样化的地区，具有非常多样化的战略利益，”他说。 “有很多经济利益在起作用，特别是像埃及这样的演员，他们在 2017 年拘留了数百名维吾尔学生并将他们驱逐到中国。”
According to Jardine's research, more than 1,500 Uyghurs abroad have been detained or extradited — many in North Africa.
根据怡和的研究，超过1,500 名海外维吾尔人被拘留或引渡，其中许多在北非。
Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Africa advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said she sees a slight decline in joint statements with China on the Xinjiang issue. "The number of signatories has not only plateaued but, in fact, recently dropped."
人权观察非洲倡导主任卡琳·卡内扎·南图利亚（Carine Kaneza Nantulya）表示，她认为与中国在新疆问题上的联合声明略有下降。 “签署国的数量不仅停滞不前，而且事实上最近有所下降。”
"Plenty of other African states have abstained, declining to join China's counternarrative," she said, pointing to Eswatini and Liberia, who joined other countries in condemning China's policies in Xinjiang.
“许多其他非洲国家已经弃权，拒绝加入中国的反叙事，”她指着斯威士兰和利比里亚说与其他国家一起谴责中国在新疆的政策。
