UN Human Rights Chief To Visit Xinjiang

The United Nations' human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has reached an agreement with China to visit the country, including the Xinjiang region, in May.

Confirming the arrangement, Chen Xu, China's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said: “We welcome the High Commissioner's visit to Xinjiang this May. And China will work together with the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) to make good preparation for this visit.”

Speaking to the UN's Human Rights Council, he said freedom of expression was fully protected in China, but added: “Freedom of expression can never be a pretext to make anyone above the law.”

Bachelet's office has spent the last three and a half years gathering evidence related to alleged abuses against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, including claims that around one million have been held in mass detention camps.

Beijing rejects accusations of abuse, describing the camps as vocational centres designed to combat extremism. In late 2019, Xinjiang’s Uighur governor, Shohrat Zakir, said all people in the camps had graduated. (Reuters)