The UN rights envoy yesterday said her contentious visit to China was “not an investigation”, and insisted she had unsupervised access during meetings in Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses.

Michelle Bachelet’s long-planned trip this week has taken her to the far-western region, where Beijing is accused of the detention of over a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, forced sterilisation of women and coerced labour.

The US has labelled China’s actions in Xinjiang a “genocide”, allegations vehemently denied by Beijing.

Bachelet has come under fire from rights groups and Uyghurs overseas, who say she has stumbled into a six-day Communist Party propaganda tour.

Speaking at the end of her trip while still inside China, Bachelet framed her visit as a chance for her to speak with “candour” to Chinese authorities as well as civil society groups and academics.

“This visit was not an investigation,” she told reporters.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/asia/china/news/un-rights-chief-defends-china-visit-after-uproar-3034176