Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday defended his country’s human rights record, telling a visiting UN official that “preachers need not be in charge of other countries.” Michelle Bachelet’s rights are likely to add to the controversy surrounding a trip that critics say runs the risk of becoming a propaganda tool for Beijing.
Bachelet, who arrived in China on Monday for a six-day tour, is expected to visit the far western region of Xinjiang, where the Chinese government faces accusations of mass internment, forced assimilation, labor. forced and forced sterilization against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.
On May 25, Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his country’s human rights record and told UN official Michelle Bachelet that “preachers’ do not need to be in charge of other countries”. (MARTIAL TREZZINI / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
Beijing has repeatedly denied the allegations.
But the trip, the first by a UN human rights chief in China since 2005, has been haunted by questions about Bachelet’s access to and freedom of speech with unsupervised locals. fear that it will jeopardize the credibility of your office.
On Wednesday, Xi told Bachelet that China’s human rights development “adapts to its own national conditions.”
“On the subject of human rights, no country is perfect, there is no need for ‘preachers’ to take charge of other countries, let alone if they politicize the issue, practice double standards or use it as an excuse to interfere in other countries “Internal affairs,” Xi told China’s state-run CCTV.
Xi told Bachelet that China’s human rights development “adapts to its own national conditions.” (AP)
Bachelet said he was committed to the visit because “it is a priority to liaise directly with the Chinese government on human rights issues,” according to a statement provided by OACDH to CNN.
“For development, peace and security to be sustainable, locally and cross-border, human rights must be at the core,” Bachelet said. “China has a crucial rule to play within multilateral institutions to address many of the challenges currently facing the world, including threats to international peace and security, instability in the global economic system, inequality, climate change and more. “
Neither the CCTV reading of the meeting nor Bachelet’s statement mentioned Xinjiang.
Bachelet is expected to visit the cities of Kashgar and Urumqi in Xinjiang, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry said its trip would be made in a “closed loop”, meaning its delegation would be isolated inside a “bubble” to contain the possible spread of COVID-19, and journalists would not be allowed. internationals travel with her.
The explorer’s hand-drawn map of the frozen continent sells for six figures
“We do not expect (China) to grant the necessary access to conduct a full and unmanipulated assessment of the human rights environment in Xinjiang,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. Tuesday.
“We believe it was a mistake to accept a visit under the circumstances,” Price said, adding that Bachelet could not get a full picture “of the atrocities, crimes against humanity and genocide” in the region.
In a statement on Monday, Amnesty International said Bachelet must “address crimes against humanity and serious human rights violations” during his trip.
“Michelle Bachelet’s long-delayed visit to Xinjiang is a critical opportunity to address human rights violations in the region, but it will also be a running battle against the Chinese government’s efforts to cover up the truth,” she said. organization, Agnes Callamard.
“The UN must take steps to mitigate this and resist its use to support blatant propaganda.”