Beijing claims sabotage as UN official visits Xinjiang

Foreign Minister Wang Yi (right) meets with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Guangzhou

China yesterday said the U.S., Britain and other foreign powers are seeking to sabotage its foreign relations by orchestrating criticism surrounding a trip by the top United Nations official for human rights.

China has long held back the fact-finding mission led by Michelle Bachelet, focused on allegations of mass confinement, forced labor and compulsory birth control measures imposed on members of the Uyghur, Kazakh and other Muslim minorities.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin went on the offensive over such criticisms yesterday, saying “the U.S., Britain and other Western countries have been repeatedly staging political farces around the U.N. high commissioner for human rights’ visit to China.”

“They have first openly pressured and strongly demanded that the high commissioner visit China and Xinjiang, and conducted the so-called investigation with presumption of guilt,” Wang said at a daily briefing.

The U.S., Britain and other countries “jumped out and spared no effort to disrupt and sabotage the visit, creating conditions and obstacles for the visit,” Wang said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Bachelet in the southern city of Guangzhou on Monday, telling her that China opposes “politicizing” human rights and imposing double standards.

Bachelet’s trip is the first to China by a U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2005.

Her six-day visit is focused on allegations of abuses against Muslim minorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, but rights groups fear it will help whitewash the crackdown labeled by the U.S. as genocide.

China says it has nothing to hide and welcomes all those without political bias to visit Xinjiang and view what it describes as a successful campaign to fight terrorism and restore order and ethnic cohesion.

From Guangzhou, Bachelet is to travel to Kashgar, once a stop on the Silk Road, and Urumqi, the Xinjiang capital. 

The U.N. quoted Bachelet as telling Wang that she was looking forward to exchanges with “many different people during my visit, particularly with government officials, business leaders, academics, students and members of the civil society working on human rights and other social and economic issues.”

“While we will be discussing sensitive and important issues, I hope this will help us to build confidence and enable us to work together in advancing human rights in China and globally,” it quoted Bachelet as saying.

“Wang noted that to advance the international cause of human rights, we must first respect each other and refrain from politicizing human rights,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

“Multilateral human rights institutions should become a platform for cooperation and dialogue, rather than a new battlefield for division and confrontation. China is ready to carry out constructive cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) based on mutual respect and on an equal footing,” he said.

Xinhua reported that Bachelet congratulated China “on its important achievements in economic and social development and in promoting the protection of human rights.”

She spoke highly of China’s contribution in supporting multilateralism, development financing and sustainable development, poverty reduction, climate change and ecological protection and other areas that are vital to human rights development.

She said OHCHR attaches great importance to China’s role and hopes to take this visit as an opportunity to enhance mutual understanding and trust, jointly cope with global challenges and promote the development of international human rights.

According to international observers, China’s ruling Communist Party allows no political opposition and strictly limits free speech and rights to assembly and religious expression. China is also one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and has signed but not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights administered by Bachelet’s office. MDT/Agencies