(TibetanReview.net, May25’22) – After meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi at the beginning of her ongoing six-day visit to China and East Turkestan (Xinjiang) beginning May 23, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has held an online meeting with President Xi Jinping today. Bachelet has already made it clear that her visit was not for an investigation while China has called it a trip of strengthening cooperation, and of clarifying matters.
In his online meeting, Xi elaborated on major issues related to the development of China’s human rights cause and made it clear that the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese government were committed to the comprehensive protection and safeguarding of human rights, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency May 25.
Meanwhile China has rejected international concerns about the visit for its lack of information on whether the UN rights chief and her team would be free to visit places and meet people as they see fit.
China appears to be sure that Bachelet will not let its Communist party government down while condemning critics of her visit and those criticizing its human rights record in Xinjiang.
“What they are really worried about is that when people from the international community, including the high commissioner, see the real situation in Xinjiang, their fabricated lies and rumors will be debunked and their attempt to contain China using the so-called ‘Xinjiang issue’ will go bankrupt,” Xinhua news agency May 24 cited Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin as saying at a daily press briefing.
Earlier, on May 21, US State Department spokesman Ned Price had expressed deep concern about Bachelet’s planned visit at a press briefing. The United States had “no expectation that the PRC (People’s Republic of China) will grant the necessary access required to conduct a complete, unmanipulated assessment of the human rights environment in Xinjiang,” Reuters May 21 quoted him as saying.
Referring to it and other criticisms, Wang has sought to ask, “Do they really care about human rights, or just want to politicize the human rights issue and use it as a weapon against China?”