China claims sabotage as UN rights official visits Xinjiang
China claims sabotage as UN rights official visits Xinjiang
China claims sabotage as UN rights official visits Xinjiang
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, meets with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, left, in Guangzhou, China, on May 23, 2022. (Deng Hua / Xinhua via AP)
BEIJING -
China on Tuesday 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 Tuesday, saying "the U.S., Britain and other Western countries have been repeatedly staging political farces around the UN 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 UN 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 locked up an estimated million or more members of Uyghur, Kazakh and other Muslim minorities in what critics describe as a campaign to obliterate their distinct cultural identities. 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 UN and China barred foreign media from accompanying Bachelet, and it's unclear whom she will meet and how much access she will be granted throughout her visit.
The UN 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 serve as a major venue for cooperation and dialogue rather than a new battlefield for division and confrontation," it said.
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 UN Security Council and has signed but not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights administered by Bachelet's office.
Beijing has also come under criticism over its refusal to criticize Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as its hard-line "zero-COVID" approach to the pandemic that has disrupted the lives of tens of millions of citizens and upended global supply chains.
In an online meeting Tuesday with Wang, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on "members of the international community to condemn Russia's illegal war of aggression and to assume their responsibility to uphold international law and to protect the UN Charter."
Baerbock cited the "shocking reports and new evidence of very serious human rights violations in Xinjiang and called for a transparent investigation," her ministry said.
"Human rights are a fundamental part of the international order and Germany is committed to protecting them worldwide," Baerbock said.
"I think it's important that these accusations, which have been known for a long time, are addressed by the Chinese side, and I made that very, very clear in this morning's discussion," she added.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, echoed Baerbock.
She tweeted: "Horrified by the Xinjiang Police Files, which spotlight China's mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities."
Thomas-Greenfield also said that Bachelet and her office "must take a hard look at these faces and press Chinese officials for full, unfettered access -- and answers."
----
Associated Press writer Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
The campaign for Patrick Brown said it was consulting its legal team after the leadership election organizing committee of the federal Conservatives voted to disqualify him from the race late Tuesday.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
Two young emergency room doctors, raised and trained in Montreal, are leaving their jobs after only two years to move back to Toronto – and they say the Quebec health-care model and Bill 96 are to blame.
The Crown is seeking to revoke bail for Tamara Lich, a leader of the 'Freedom Convoy,' after she appeared alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her conditions.
A man charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder after firing off more than 70 rounds at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago legally bought five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police said.
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The Canadian soldier who recently led a protest march to Ottawa is now facing a court martial for having spoken out against the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine requirements while wearing his uniform.
The Crown is seeking to revoke bail for Tamara Lich, a leader of the 'Freedom Convoy,' after she appeared alongside a fellow organizer in an alleged breach of her conditions.
Two Saanich, B.C., police officers remain in hospital Tuesday, including one in intensive care, a week after six officers were injured and two suspects were killed in a brazen bank robbery and gunfight near Victoria.
The father of the Edmonton girl who was missing for nine days said he was getting ready to post another update on Facebook last Saturday when police knocked on his door.
A man charged Tuesday with seven counts of murder after firing off more than 70 rounds at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago legally bought five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite authorities being called to his home twice in 2019 for threats of violence and suicide, police said.
After more than four months of ferocious fighting, Russia claimed a key victory: full control over one of the two provinces in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland.
Hackers claim to have obtained a trove of data on 1 billion Chinese from a Shanghai police database in a leak that, if confirmed, could be one of the largest data breaches in history.
Canada became the first country to ratify Finland and Sweden's accession protocols to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday.
An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has released further details about what will and won’t be allowed under its revised dress code expected to be enforced starting this fall.
A Riverview, N.B., woman has written her MLA and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard in hopes of having her voice heard over wait times to see specialists.
A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA's plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again.
An enormous waterlily in London's Royal Botanic Gardens has been discovered to belong to an entirely new species, after 177 years in the gardens' herbarium.
Twitter on Tuesday challenged the Indian government in court over its recent orders to take down some content on the social media platform, media outlets reported.
Amber Heard's lawyers have asked a judge to throw out the US$10.35 million verdict against her in the defamation case filed by ex-husband Johnny Depp, arguing that the verdict was not supported by the evidence and that one of the jurors may not have been properly vetted by the court.
Movie theatres across the world were flocked with young fans dressed in suits and carrying bananas partaking in the latest TikTok trend to watch the film 'Minions: The Rise of Gru.'
The Bank of Canada's strategy of rapidly increasing its key interest rate in an effort to tackle skyrocketing inflation will likely trigger a recession, says a new study released Tuesday from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
Even though it may seem years away, saving for retirement is a top priority among 26 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 34, a recent survey from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan found. However, 79 per cent of respondents in that age group say saving for retirement is prohibitively expensive.
Travellers might not have any control over long lines and cancelled flights, but there are ways to minimize luggage disasters. From tracking devices for your luggage to packing light, here are some tips and tricks for your next trip through the airport.
A vampire-slaying kit once owned by a British aristocrat sparked an international bidding war before selling for six times its estimated price, according to Hansons Auctioneers.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have promoted Hayley Wickenheiser, Ryan Hardy and Darryl Metcalf to assistant general manager and hired Curtis Sanford as a goaltending coach.
Jessica Campbell broke a professional hockey barrier for women as the first female assistant coach in the American Hockey League. The 30-year-old from Rocanville, Sask., was named to the Coachella Valley Firebirds coaching staff Tuesday.
Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has said he supports the cause of environmentalist group Just Stop Oil, but not some of its methods after group members invaded the track during the British Grand Prix.
A Vancouver Island real estate agent has lost his bid to recover a deposit he made on a new Ford Mustang that he intended to offer as a prize in a year-long contest in 2020.
Tesla's sales from April through June fell to their lowest quarterly level since last fall as supply chain issues and pandemic restrictions in China hobbled production of its electric vehicles.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, second right, meets with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, left, in Guangzhou, China, on May 23, 2022. (Deng Hua / Xinhua via AP)
