UN Chief meets Xi Jinping; expects China to allow credible visit of UNHR head to Xinjiang

On the sidelines of the Bejing Winter Olympics 2022, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met China's President Xi Jinping and expressed his expectation that the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the UN Human Rights head to Xinjiang. It is to mention that China is accused of unlawfully imprisoning up to 1.8 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslim minorities in extrajudicial mass detention camps in Xinjiang. However, in the past, China has repeatedly denied all accusations of being engaged in any kind of abuse. 

Now, while meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing Winter Olympic Games, the UN Chief Guterres “expressed his expectation that the contacts between the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Chinese authorities will allow for a credible visit of the High Commissioner to China, including Xinjiang,” as per UN statement. 

According to various media reports, more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities who reside in the Xinjiang region have been forcefully kept in detention camps, which the Communist regime calls "re-education camps". The minority groups living in China have often been subjected to extreme exploitation, forced labour, rapes of girls and women, and assaults, among other activities. However, the Chinese government has always denied the accusations and said the camps were established for job training.

UN Chief, Chinese authorities discuss regional issues

Meanwhile, according to a statement, the UN Secretary-General and Chinese authorities also discussed regional issues, with particular emphasis on Afghanistan. Facing the dramatic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and the multiplication of conflicts, Guterres underscored the importance of unity and solidarity in a multilateral framework bridging geopolitical divides. He went on to express concern with the dramatic growth of inequalities in the world fueling the North-South divide. 

The UN chief emphasised the need for a global vaccination plan reaching everybody everywhere, particularly in the African continent, which is also lacking the resources needed for the recovery of their economies. This requires serious reform of the international financial system so that developing countries have the possibility to obtain the resources they need, namely through debt relief and increased concessional finance, Guterres stated. Further, he also stressed the need for developed countries to fulfil their commitments to support developing countries in obtaining and accessing climate finance both for mitigation and adaptation.

(Image: AP)