China is stepping up human rights accusations against Australia following numerous condemnations Australia has made on the same grounds. Before intensifying criticisms of China’s human rights, Australia should recognise that this can be a double-edged sword.
On Friday 12 March, China and several other countries issued a statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva charging Australia with human rights abuses on several grounds. These included the immigration detention centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where medical conditions were inadequate: “a large number of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers have been detained over a long period of time or even indefinitely, and their human rights have been violated”.
Please click here to read the full “Australia has more to lose in a human rights ‘face off’ with China” article published at John Menadue, written by Griffith Asia Institute adjunct researcher, Emeritus Professor Colin Mackerras.
