The United Nations Human Rights Council voted against discussing claims of widespread abuses in China's Xinjiang region after intense lobbying by the country on Thursday.
Last month, the United States and its allies introduced a draft decision targeting China to the U.N.'s top rights body, seeking as a bare minimum a discussion on Xinjiang.
The move came after former U.N. rights chief Michelle Bachelet released her long-delayed Xinjiang report, citing possible crimes against humanity against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region.
Western countries thought that by going no further than simply seeking to talk about the findings, enough of other nations would not block putting it on the agenda.
But in a moment of knife-edge drama, countries on the 47-member council in Geneva voted 19-17 against holding a debate on human rights in Xinjiang, with 11 nations abstaining.
"This is a victory for developing countries and a victory for truth and justice," tweeted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
Amnesty International branded the vote farcical, while Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it betrayed abuse victims.
"The United States condemns today's vote preventing a discussion about Xinjiang," U.S. ambassador to the council Michele Taylor tweeted.
Inaction "shamefully suggests some countries are free from scrutiny and allowed to violate human rights with impunity."
The nations voting against a debate were Bolivia, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
Argentina, Armenia, Benin, Brazil, The Gambia, India, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico and Ukraine abstained.
Washington and some Western countries have used Xinjiang "to spread rumors and cause trouble, engaging in political manipulation under the guise of human rights, attempting to smear China's image," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.
"The plot by the U.S. and some Western countries has once again failed.
"Xinjiang-related issues are fundamentally not human rights issues, but are counterterrorism, deradicalization and anti-separatism issues."
The draft decision was put forward by the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Türkiye, among others.
One Western diplomat stressed that regardless of the outcome, "the number one objective has been fulfilled" in putting Xinjiang in the spotlight.
Bachelet's report, published minutes before her term ended on Aug. 31, highlighted "credible" allegations of widespread torture, arbitrary detention and violations of religious and reproductive rights.
It brought U.N. endorsement to long-running allegations that Beijing detained more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslims and forcibly sterilized women.
Beijing vehemently rejected the charges, insisting it was running vocational training centers in the region to counter extremism.
Amnesty secretary-general Agnes Callamard said Thursday's vote put the council in "the farcical position of ignoring the findings of the U.N.'s own human rights office."
"For council member states to vote against even discussing a situation where the U.N. itself says crimes against humanity may have occurred makes a mockery of everything the Human Rights Council is supposed to stand for."
HRW's China director Sophie Richardson called it an "abdication of responsibility and a betrayal of Uyghur victims."
International Service for Human Rights China advocate Raphael Viana David said: "Council members sent today a dreadful message: China remains so far untouchable."
ISHR executive director Phil Lynch said it was "shameful" that "Muslim countries ... have overwhelmingly failed to even support a UN discussion on rights abuses against Uyghurs."
Indonesian Ambassador Febrian Ruddyard said: "As the world's largest Muslim country and a vibrant democracy, we cannot close our eyes to the plight of our Muslim brothers and sisters."
But, as China did not consent, a discussion "will not yield meaningful progress," hence Indonesia voted "no."
The sentiment was echoed by Qatari Ambassador Hend Al-Muftah.
China launched an all-out offensive to dismiss Bachelet's report.
African countries, where China is the leading creditor after making massive infrastructure investments, faced particularly heavy lobbying, observers said.
In the end, only Somalia voted "yes" out of 13 countries.
Britain's ambassador Simon Manley said the close result nonetheless showed Beijing that "a significant number of countries will not be silenced when it comes to egregious human rights violations," whoever the perpetrator.
