facebooktwittertelegramwhatsapp
copy short urlprintemail
+ A
A -
webmaster
dpa
Beijing
Michelle Bachelet arrived in China on Monday for the first visit by a UN human rights commissioner in 17 years.
Bachelet’s trip will include the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uighurs and members of other minorities have been put into re-education camps, according to human rights groups.
The visit is accompanied by criticism of Bachelet, high expectations and appeals from human rights groups. The US government said it was “deeply concerned” that China might curtail the access necessary for the human rights commissioner to make an independent assessment of the situation.
“The high commissioner’s continued silence in the face of indisputable evidence of atrocities in Xinjiang and other human rights violations and abuses throughout [China], it is deeply concerning, particularly as she is and should be the leading UN voice on human rights,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Washington.
During her visit, the human rights commissioner plans to meet political representatives at national and local levels and hold talks with social organizations, businesspeople and academics, according to her office.
In Guangzhou in southern China, Bachelet is due to give a speech to students. In Xinjiang, she plans to visit the city of Urümqi as well as Kashgar.
The trip comes against the backdrop of the suppression of democratic opposition in Hong Kong and is taking place just days before the anniversary of the bloody suppression of the democracy movement in China on June 4, 1989.
Human rights groups accuse Bachelet of speaking out about human rights violations in other parts of the world, while showing more restraint towards China.
copy short url   Copy
24/05/2022
10