GENEVA (AP) — Diplomats have told The Associated Press that China pressured Ukraine into withdrawing its support for a call for greater scrutiny of human rights in China’s western region of Xinjiang by threatening to withhold Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines destined for Ukraine unless it did so. Ukraine joined a statement by over 40 countries at the Human Rights Council in Geneva urging China to allow access for independent observers to Xinjiang. Two diplomats from Western countries said Ukraine pulled its name off the list after Chinese authorities warned Kyiv that they would block a planned shipment of at least 500,000 doses vaccines to Ukraine unless it did so.
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