The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, warned that the conditions of the trip of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “do not allow a complete evaluation and regardless of the situation”
Michelle Bachelet’s visit to Guangzhou (via Reuters)
The United States expressed concern about “China’s efforts to restrict and manipulate” the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to the Xinjiang region, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
“The United States remains concerned about the visit of (…) Bachelet and her team” to China, Blinken said in a statement.
Washington is also concerned about “the efforts” of the Chinese regime “to restrict and manipulate his visit”, he added.
Blinken considered that those conditions “do not allow a complete and independent of the human rights situation in the People’s Republic of China, including Xinjiang.”
Bachelet defended her controversial visit to China on Saturday and urged the authorities to avoid “arbitrary and indiscriminate” measures in Xinjiang, a region in which Beijing is accused of widespread abuses.
El The long-planned trip took her to the Far West region, where China is accused of detaining more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, as well as forced sterilizations.< /p>
This is the first trip to China by the UN’s top human rights official in 17 years, and comes after tough negotiations over the terms of his visit.
Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his country’s progress on human rights on Wednesday, after new journalistic leaks about the repression of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang that coincide with the visit to this area of the UN High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet.
Bachelet urged China to avoid “indiscriminate arbitrary measures” in its crackdown in Xinjiang, but also said she recognized the damage caused by “violent acts of extremism.” The former Chilean president insisted that her visit “is not an investigation.”
The tour was harshly criticized by human rights groups and Uyghurs abroad.
< p class=”paragraph”>After a video meeting Bachelet had with President Xi Jinping, state media suggested that she supported China’s view of human rights. But his office later clarified that his comments did not contain a direct endorsement of China’s record on human rights.
“Some Western countries… did their best to disrupt and undermine the High Commissioner’s visit, but the plot was unsuccessful,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said in an online statement after the press conference. Bachelet.
“Resigning is the only thing she should do for the Human Rights Council,” said Dilxat Raxit, spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress Advocacy Group.
US-based Uyghur activist Rayhan Asat said on Twitter that it was a “total betrayal.”
Human Rights Executive Director Kenneth Roth downplayed Bachelet’s argument that his visit was valuable because he was able to speak frankly to Chinese officials. “That kind of behind-the-scenes talk is just what the Chinese government wants, with no public reporting, no pressure to end their intense crackdown on Uyghurs and others,” Roth tweeted.
The secretary general of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard, stated in a statement that “the visit of the High Commissioner was characterized by taking photos with high-ranking government officials and the manipulation of the statements by the Chinese state media, giving the impression of who directly participated in a highly predictable propaganda exercise” by the Chinese government.
(With information from AFP)