China’s foreign minister says UN human rights chief can visit Xinjiang

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China’s foreign minister says UN human rights chief can visit Xinjiang

Michelle Bachelet has long sought access to the western Chinese region to investigate accusations of abuse against ethnic Uighurs.



This photo taken on Sept 13, 2019 shows people on a street in a small village where ethnic Uighurs live on the outskirts of Shayar in the region of Xinjiang. Photo: AFP

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet can visit Xinjiang, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday, but China does not welcome any investigation based on the presumption of guilt.

Bachelet has long sought access to the western Chinese region to investigate accusations of abuse against ethnic Uighurs. The issue has strained ties between Beijing and the West, sparking accusations of genocide from Washington and a US-led diplomatic boycott by some countries of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

“(China) rejects all kinds of biases, prejudices and uncalled-for accusations,” Wang, who is also a Chinese state councillor, said by video at the Munich Security Conference when asked if Bachelet would have unrestricted access in Xinjiang.

Rights groups accuse China of widescale abuses against Uighurs and other minority groups, including torture, forced labour and detention of one million people in internment camps. China says the camps are re-education and training facilities and denies any abuse, saying it is fighting religious extremism.

The so-called systematic forced labour or education camps are all lies and fabrication, said Wang.

“I hope you can believe the Chinese government, and trust what the Chinese government has said and the information that we have been releasing,” he said.