UN rights chief to visit China next week, travel to Xinjiang

20/5/2022 19:41

        The United Nations' top human rights official will visit China next week on a trip that will take her to the Xinjiang region, where rights groups and some Western governments allege the Chinese government is committing genocide and serious abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.
        
        U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will start her six-day visit on Monday, her office said Friday. She will visit Guangzhou, Kashgar and the Xinjiang regional capital of Urumqi.
        
        It will be the first such visit to China by a U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2005, Bachelet's office said. She plans to speak with high-level national and local officials, civil society organizations, business representatives and academics, and deliver a lecture to students at Guangzhou University.
        A five-member advance team arrived in China on April 25 to prepare for Bachelet's visit, traveling to Guangzhou and Xinjiang.