Based on Fujiki Shunichi’s report on his activities at the United Nations, this article records how China has begun to exert influence over the UN Human Rights Council and even the UN’s internal security apparatus, while monitoring and obstructing Uyghur human rights activists, independent media, Hong Kong activists, and Japanese NGO activities. It also discusses the financial strength of left-wing NGOs operating at the UN and the need for continuous efforts to defend Japan.

2020-01-08
What I feel firsthand from continuing to go to the United Nations is that China has begun to manipulate the UN Human Rights Council at will.
The following is a continuation of the previous chapter.
Chinese NGOs and the Suppression of the Media
What I feel firsthand from continuing to go to the United Nations is that China has begun to manipulate the UN Human Rights Council at will.
In particular, with regard to the security division inside the United Nations, it can be said that it has already fallen into China’s hands.
I will explain the reason by citing two concrete examples.
The first is a move to exclude human rights NGOs that seek to save people who are being directly or indirectly suppressed by China.
Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, a friendly organization of the UN NGO International Career Support Association to which the author belongs, went to the United Nations Headquarters in New York on April 22, 2017, to participate in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which discusses human rights related to ethnic minorities.
While he was in the cafeteria inside the UN, he was surrounded by four plainclothes UN security officers, had his entry pass confiscated without being given any reason, and was barred from entering the United Nations.
Isa is a human rights activist who has been appealing to governments around the world, including the United Nations and the European Parliament, regarding the Chinese government’s suppression of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
For the Chinese government, he is an extremely inconvenient person.
For this reason, the Chinese government labeled him a “terrorist” and had him placed on an international wanted list, a red notice, through Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization.
At that time, the president of Interpol was Meng Hongwei of China.
Later, Interpol lifted the international wanted notice against Isa, but immediately afterward, in October 2018, Meng was suddenly detained by the Chinese authorities and his whereabouts became unknown.
It is said that he was released, but his subsequent whereabouts remain unknown.
The second example is that Bilal Baloch, a reporter for the independent media outlet Bolan Times, which had been following various developments at the United Nations Office at Geneva, was also refused renewal of his UN entry badge in 2017, just as Isa had been.
He had written many articles critical of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and without being given any reason, he found himself in a situation where he could neither enter the United Nations nor carry out reporting there.
This is the present reality: at the Human Rights Council, which exists to protect human rights, such tyranny is being carried out without even informing people of the charges against them.
The author, too, has become a target.
Over these six years, I have held many side events inside the United Nations to discuss Japan and other issues.
Furthermore, I have also been invited as a speaker to side events held by NGOs and others with whom I have cooperative relationships.
Amid this, I noticed the presence of people who appeared to be Chinese staff members or government-related personnel pointing cameras or video cameras at me inside the United Nations.
Naturally, since I give speeches at side events criticizing China and similar events, I come under strict surveillance by China.
At the 42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council in September 2019, I invited two Hong Kong activists and held a side event to appeal about the suppression of citizens and human rights problems being caused by the Chinese government in Hong Kong.
During that period, I constantly felt that I was being watched by the Chinese authorities inside the UN, but when I was waiting for a bus at a bus stop near the Geneva station together with these activists from Hong Kong, I noticed a man across the road pointing a camera at us.
I immediately turned my back on the man in silence and asked the two Hong Kong activists, “I am going to turn left, so please watch the man’s movements.”
From the position of having my back to the man holding the camera, when I turned left, the man moved to the left, and when I turned right, he moved to the right, confirming that he was pointing his camera at us.
The Hong Kong activists seemed extremely surprised and said, “So this kind of thing really does happen.”
I had warned them in advance about the danger of being followed and similar matters, but they had been half in doubt.
Hidden Cameras
Because the author stays near Geneva for as long as one month at a time, I often stay not in hotels but in apartments or lodging facilities that can be rented by the week.
When one engages in activities related to the United Nations, one becomes acquainted with intelligence officials from various countries, and relationships develop.
One of them happened to visit the apartment where I was staying on a certain Sunday.
However, about ten minutes after he entered the room, he began to say this:
“Shun, there is something strange about this room. There are three clocks of the same shape in total in the kitchen and living room.”
It was true that I knew there were two tabletop digital clocks in the living room and one in the kitchen, displaying numbers with blue LED light.
Because he said this, I picked up one of them and opened the cover, and a microSD card was inserted inside.
I immediately put it into my computer, and our ten-minute conversation and video had been recorded perfectly.
I do not know who planted them, but I took the three microSD cards and filed a damage report with the Geneva police.
Later, the police contacted me and told me that the culprit had been arrested and fined, but I was not informed what kind of person it was.
Besides this, over these six years, I have encountered other things that I believe were likely Chinese obstruction.
Our enemies are not only the anti-Japan leftists who denigrate Japan, but also the so-called Chinese NGOs that strut around inside the United Nations as if they owned the place.
Of course, it is obvious that NGOs do not exist in China, but in reality, there are many organizations at the United Nations that call themselves Chinese NGOs.
If one looks at the pamphlets and other materials that these NGOs distribute inside the UN, they state that they were issued by the printing bureau of the Chinese government.
They are spreading propaganda at the will of the Chinese government.
Well-Funded Left-Wing NGOs
At first, the author visited Geneva as a member of the United Nations investigation team of the National Movement for the Truth about the Comfort Women, an organization formed to resolve the comfort women issue.
During that investigation, I keenly felt the need for continuous activity at the United Nations, and since then, sometimes as part of an organization and sometimes as an individual, I have participated in various UN meetings.
On the other hand, left-wing NGOs such as the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism, which is connected to the Buraku Liberation League, have base offices in Geneva and staff stationed there permanently.
It is unclear where they obtain their funds, but I have heard that they finance themselves by circulating national funds back to themselves.
According to the representative of an NGO that once worked jointly with this organization, funds had come from the Japanese government.
It left a strong impression on me that this representative tilted his head in disbelief, saying that they were engaging in anti-Japan activities with national money.
Prices in Switzerland are high.
Even a McDonald’s hamburger set, which could be called the cheapest food available, costs around 1,500 yen.
For this reason, the author carries in large quantities of instant ramen and retort-pouch foods while conducting these activities.
I do not know how long I can continue activities under the present circumstances, but it is clear that continuous activity will be necessary from now on as well in order to defend Japan.
I sincerely ask for the participation and support of many people.