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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 24 May 2022

Xinjiang in focus as U.N. rights chief arrives for China visit

BEIJING (AP) — Allegations ment efforts to cover up
of human rights abuses in the truth,” Amnesty Inter-
northwestern China’s Xinji- national Secretary General
ang region will dominate a Agnes Callamard said in a
visit by the United Nations’ statement.
top rights official that be- “The U.N. must take steps
gan Monday. to mitigate against this and
Michelle Bachelet’s trip is resist being used to support
the first to China by a U.N. blatant propaganda,” Cal-
high commissioner for hu- lamard said. Bachelet’s trip
man rights since 2005, and comes ahead of the long-
rights groups warn it threat- awaited release of a report
ens to whitewash abuses on the human rights situa-
by the ruling Communist tion in Xinjiang. Almost 200
Party in Xinjiang. rights groups have urged
China locked up an es- Bachelet to release her re-
timated million or more port, which diplomats have
members of Uyghur, Ka- said has been ready or very
zakh and other Muslim mi- close to it for months.U.S.
norities in what critics de- State Department spokes-
scribe as a campaign to Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, speaks during a news conference at person Ned Price echoed
obliterate their distinct cul- the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Dec. 9, 2020. that call last Friday, saying
tural identities. China says Associated Press the U.S. and others have
it has nothing to hide and been calling for its release
welcomes all those without “brief the media on her visit bor, coercive birth control office said. for months.
political bias to visit Xinjiang in due course,” Wang said and separating children Rights groups have called “The high commissioner’s
and view what it describes at a daily briefing on Mon- from their incarcerated for more information and continued silence in the
as a successful campaign day. parents. The monitoring accountability from China face of indisputable evi-
to restore order and ethnic “I hope that this visit will fur- group The Dui Hua Founda- over its policies in Tibet and dence of atrocities in Xin-
cohesion. ther promote exchanges tion says fasting for Rama- Inner Mongolia that restrict jiang and other human
Bachelet began her six- and cooperation between dan or selling Islamic books minority cultural rights. A rights violations and abuses
day visit in the southern the two sides and play an has also been targeted. crackdown on freedoms in throughout the P.R.C. … is
city of Guangzhou and will active role in advancing It’s not clear whether Bach- Hong Kong has also led the deeply concerning, partic-
travel to the Xinjiang cities the international human elet will be able to meet U.S. and others to impose ularly as she is and should
of Kashgar, once a stop on rights cause,” he said. with officials who led the sanctions on local and Chi- be the leading U.N. voice
the Silk Road, and Urumqi, A key question is whether crackdown in Xinjiang, nese central government on human rights,” Price
the region’s capital. Details Bachelet will be allowed to including former region- officials. said, using the acronym for
have been tightly held and visit the former internment al party secretary Chen Amnesty International said the People’s Republic of
China’s Communist Party- camps that China called Quanguo, now an official Bachelet must “address China.
controlled media have not vocational training and in Beijing. crimes against humanity He said the U.S. is “deeply
reported on her visit. education centers and Bachelet, a former presi- and gross human rights vio- concerned” about Bach-
Chinese Foreign Ministry meet with people impris- dent of Chile, plans to lations” during her trip. elet’s visit and has “no ex-
spokesperson Wang Wen- oned over calls for greater speak with high-level na- “Michelle Bachelet’s long- pectation that the P.R.C.
bin confirmed Bachelet’s religious, political and cul- tional and local officials, delayed visit to Xinjiang will grant the necessary ac-
arrival and said she would tural freedoms, such as Il- civil society organizations, is a critical opportunity to cess required to conduct
have “extensive exchang- ham Tohti, an economist business representatives address human rights vio- a complete, unmanipu-
es with all sectors.” No jour- and winner of the Sakharov and academics, and de- lations in the region, but it lated assessment of the hu-
nalists will travel with her Prize. China has also been liver a lecture to students at will also be a running battle man rights environment in
in China, but Bachelet will accused of using forced la- Guangzhou University, her against Chinese govern- Xinjiang.”q