BEIJING, May 29, 2022 (AFP) – Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Saturday (28th) that her visit to China was not “an investigation” and that her meetings in the Xinjiang region, where Beijing is located, are accused of oppressing minorities, not overseen by the authorities.
Bachelet also ensured at her press conference that she listened to her critics and spoke “openly” with communist leaders for not criticizing the Chinese government.
Beijing is accused of keeping one million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in detention centers in Xinjiang (northwest), sterilizing women and forcing these citizens to do forced labor.
The 70-year-old former Chilean president arrived in Xinjiang on Tuesday, the first visit by a senior UN human rights official in 17 years. Collaborators stated that they will visit the capital of the region, the cities of Urumqi and Kashgar.
“Some Western countries … tried their best to disrupt and undermine the High Commissioner’s visit, but the plot failed,” Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said in an online statement after the meeting. said.
“All it has to do for the Human Rights Council is to resign,” said Dilxat Raxit, spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress Advocacy Group.
US-based Uyghur activist Rayhan Asat said on Twitter that it was “a complete betrayal”.
Human Rights Executive Director Kenneth Roth downplayed Bachelet’s assertion that her visit was valuable because she was able to speak openly with Chinese officials.
“Such behind-the-scenes conversations are exactly what the Chinese government wants, no public reporting, no pressure to end the massive crackdown on the Uighurs and others,” Roth said.
“The High Commissioner’s visit was characterized by the manipulation of photographs taken with senior government officials and statements by Chinese state media, giving the impression of direct involvement,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General, in a statement. “By the Chinese government.
At the end of her visit, at a telematics press conference, Bachelet urged China to refrain from “arbitrary measures” in the “counter-terrorism” campaign that officials are promoting in the Xinjiang region (northwest).
He assured that the authorities of this Chinese region had ensured the “dismantling” of the network of “professional training centers” that humanitarian organizations described as forced re-education camps.
Bachelet also announced that she had brought up the issue of separation from her Uyghur family during her meetings with the Xinjiang authorities.
“We are aware of the number of people seeking news from their loved ones. This and other issues have been forwarded to the authorities,” he said.
Bachelet saw her visit as an opportunity to speak “openly” with Chinese officials, as well as civil society groups and academics.
The parliaments of the United States and other Western countries have denounced a “genocide,” the accusations have been vehemently denied by China, and these accusations assure that these are professional training centers to keep people away from separatism and extremist Islam.
Washington on Saturday expressed concern over “Chinese efforts to restrict and manipulate” Bachelet’s visit to Xinjiang, according to a statement.
These circumstances “do not allow for a full and independent assessment of the human rights situation in the People’s Republic of China, including Xinjiang,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said in the note.
The UN official’s visit drew criticism from human rights groups and Uyghurs abroad.
After Bachelet’s video call with President Xi Jinping, state media suggested that Bachelet supported China’s view on human rights. However, his office clarified that his comments did not include a direct confirmation of China’s human rights record.
apj/reb/bl/mb/aa
source: Noticias
