UNITED NATIONS (CMC) — Three Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries have signed on to a statement in which 80 developing countries at the United Nations are calling for respect of China’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.

Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, and Grenada signed the statement during the general debate on human rights held by UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Third Committee last week that deals with social, cultural, and humanitarian issues.

According to the statement, the countries that are signatories say they oppose politicisation of human rights and double standards — or interference in a state’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights.

Political observers say that at the heart of the matter is a statement by developed countries — including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan — in which they say they have ongoing concerns about serious human rights violations in China.

“Two years ago, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ assessment on Xinjiang,concluded that serious human rights violations had been committed in Xinjiang, and that the scale of the arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other predominately Muslim minorities in Xinjiang ‘may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,’ ” according to the statement by the developed countries.

They called on China, “to uphold the international human rights obligations that it has voluntarily assumed and to fully implement all UN recommendations, including from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ assessment, treaty bodies, and other United Nations human rights mechanisms.

“This includes releasing all individuals arbitrarily detained in both Xinjiang and Tibet, and urgently clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing family members,” they said, calling on Beijing for transparency and openness on the entire matter.

“Transparency and openness are key to allaying concerns, and we call on China to allow unfettered and meaningful access to Xinjiang and Tibet for independent observers, including from the UN, to evaluate the human rights situation.

“No country has a perfect human rights record but no country is above fair scrutiny of its human rights obligations. It is incumbent on all of us not to undermine international human rights commitments that benefit us all and for which all states are accountable,” the developed countries added.

But in their statement, the 80 developing countries noted that the issues referred to are China’s internal affairs, and called for non-interference by other countries.

“Respect for sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of states and non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states represent basic norms governing international relations.

“We maintain that all parties should abide by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations; adhere to the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity; and respect the right of the people of each State to choose independently the path for development, in accordance with their national conditions. All human rights should be treated with the same emphasis, with sufficient importance attached to economic, social, and cultural rights — and the right to development in particular,” they added.

During the debate, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, dismissed as “lies” and “totally unfounded” the issues raised by the developed countries.

“Countries like the United States and the United Kingdom have turned a blind eye to and covered up their own serious human rights violations such as racial discrimination while pointing fingers at and making groundless accusations against developing countries,” Zhang said.