Bachelet visit must guarantee full access

28/1/2022 18:41

        U.N. human rights chief Michelle
        Bachelet is in talks with China for a possible visit in the
        first half of 2022, but it must be "meaningful, with
        unsupervised access" to the Xinjiang region, her spokesperson
        Rupert Colville told Reuters on Friday.
        
        Earlier the South China Morning Post, citing unidentified
        sources, said that China had agreed that Bachelet can visit
        Xinjiang after the Beijing Olympics, but activists and a Western
        diplomat expressed doubt after years of stalled talks.
        
        "It is important that such a visit be meaningful, with
        unsupervised access to a wide range of civil society actors and
        locations as well as high-level engagement with government
        officials. As the High Commissioner has said, meaningful,
        unfettered access to the Xinjiang region is crucial," Colville
        told Reuters in an email reply.