Beijing (TIP): Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 25 told visiting UNHRC chief Michelle Bachelet that no one can claim perfection in human rights protection and there is no need for patronising lectures, as he downplayed the allegations of massive human rights violations against Uygur Muslims and their mass incarcerations in the volatile Xinjiang province. Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, arrived in Guangzhou on Monday after a long drawn out negotiation process with Beijing to probe the allegations of internment of over a million Uygur Muslims of different ages as part of its crackdown on Islamic militants.
China alleges that the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which is allegedly linked to radical outfits like al-Qaeda and Islamic State, actively fomented a separatist insurgency in Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Afghanistan and several Central Asian countries.
Beijing terms the mass camps as re-education centres to impart skill education.
China has also been accused of carrying out a campaign of “sinicization” of Islam which broadly meant bringing it in tune with the policies of the ruling Communist Party. In his meeting with Bachelet through a video link on Wednesday, President 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 are committed to the comprehensive protection and safeguarding of human rights. Xi pointed out that in terms of human rights protection, no one can claim perfection and there is always room for improvement, an official press release here said.
“When it comes to human rights issues, there is no such thing as a flawless utopia; countries do not need patronising lecturers; still less should human rights issues be politicised and used as a tool to apply double standards, or as a pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said in an apparent reference to the US and EU countries terming China’s crackdown in Xinjiang as “genocide”.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Bachelet in the southern city of Guangzhou and briefed her on China’s stance.
In February, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres met with Xi and expressed his expectation that the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the UN High Commissioner to China, including Xinjiang.
Ahead of Bachelet’s visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the purpose of the visit is to promote exchange and cooperation, not investigation based on the presumption of guilt. We oppose anyone to use this for political manipulation to pressure China”. Coinciding with Bachelet’s visit, the BBC has released “huge cache of data” hacked from Chinese police computer servers in Xinjiang showing thousands of photographs of incarcerated Uygurs from the heart of China’s highly secretive system as well as a shoot-to-kill policy for those who try to escape. (PTI)