China has agreed that it will allow the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Xinjiang this year but after the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 Games are concluded, South China Morning Post reported citing unnamed sources.
The Winter Olympics will be held between February 4 to February 20 but the upcoming event has been overshadowed by a range of issues.
Some of the Western countries have accused China of ‘egregious’ human rights violations in the Xinjiang region against the Uyghurs Muslims, which China has repeatedly denied.
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After the United States announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, other countries like Australia, the UK and Canada also confirmed that they will not send government officials to the Games. The athletes from the mentioned countries will participate.
The US has accused China of including mass detention, torture, forced labour and genocide.
Apart from the Xinjiang issue, the current coronavirus (COVID-19) and the safety of tennis player Peng Shuai also remained a hot topic for China.
UN human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet has been pursuing negotiations with China on a visit since September 2018.
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In the latest development, the South China Morning Post report on Thursday (January 27) cited sources saying that the approval for a visit after the conclusion of the Beijing Winter Games was granted on the condition the trip should be “friendly” and not framed as an investigation.
“No one, especially the world’s leading human rights diplomat, should be fooled by the Chinese government’s efforts to distract attention away from its crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities,” Sophie Richardson, China Director at Human Rights Watch, told Reuters in an emailed statement on Friday.
China’s foreign ministry, China’s mission to the United Nations in New York, and the United Nations did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(With inputs from agencies)
