During her visit to Xinjiang Province, authorities also showed Michelle Bachelet a former re-education camp and prison. She did not denounce the systematic oppression of the Muslim minority in the region, and she held back with criticism in other respects as well.
During her video conference with Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Michelle Bachelet nodded almost constantly. She herself spoke on state television for less than a minute.
At the end of her six-day trip to China, the impression remains that Michelle Bachelet was always concerned not to alienate the Chinese government. At her press conference on Saturday evening at the end of her visit, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that China’s counter-terrorism measures must be in line with international rules.
“I have encouraged the government to review all anti-terrorism and de-radicalization measures to ensure they are consistent with human rights standards,” Bachelet said. The measures should not be applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner, she added. At the same time, Bachelet pointed out that acts of extremism have serious and terrible consequences for the lives of the victims.
Strong criticism in advance
Officially, China’s government justifies the oppression of the Muslim Uyghurs with the fight against “terrorism, extremism and separatism”. However, there has been no terrorist attack in China for many years. At one point, China had interned more than a million people, mostly members of Muslim minorities, in re-education camps in Xinjiang province. Torture, forced sterilization in the camps or orders to shoot against Uyghurs, as they were again in the past week by the so-called «Xinjiang Police Files» Bachelet did not name them.
In the run-up to the event, human rights organizations, among others, had criticized Bachelet’s visit to China because she had not been guaranteed unhindered access to Xinjiang. On such a trip, every meeting and program item must be approved by the Chinese authorities, Philip Alston, a legal expert at New York University School of Law, said in a webinar on Friday. Alston has previously served as the Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council and in that capacity traveled to China in 2016.
Bachelet tried to counter any criticism of her mission by pointing out that her visit was not an investigation. Official visits, such as that of a UN high commissioner, are inherently high-level, she said, and incompatible with the methodical, detailed, and discreet work required for an investigation. However, she was able to speak to Chinese “unsupervised” and met civil society representatives, academics and religious leaders, Bachelet said.
Praise for the hospital and the court
In Kashgar, southern Xinjiang, Bachelet visited a former re-education camp, now converted into a school, and a men’s prison. Bachelet praised the detention center’s hospital and attached courtroom, where inmates can appeal their sentences. China does not have an independent legal system; When foreign politicians and journalists visit Xinjiang, it is also not uncommon for the locations shown to be specially prepared for the delegation. How authentic the situation really is is usually difficult to assess.
Throughout their stay, the impression was that Bachelet was on the defensive and that the Chinese government was in charge. At the press conference on Saturday evening, state broadcaster CCTV asked the first question. The journalist wanted to know how Bachelet assessed the human rights situation in the USA in view of racial discrimination and the recent massacre in a school in the Texas city of Uvalde.
It was the question that Bachelet answered most extensively. She admitted deficits in the equal treatment of whites and blacks by law enforcement agencies in the USA and spoke of a “terrible human rights situation in the USA” in connection with racially motivated murders, such as recently in Buffalo.
In her video conference with head of state and party leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, this bachelet lectured on China’s progress in respecting human rights and the country’s special cultural tradition, which should be taken into account when discussing this. State broadcaster CCTV showed a smiling Xi during his video lecture for more than five minutes on its main news program, while Bachelet nodded almost incessantly. She herself spoke in the post in less than a minute when she thanked China for the invitation.
Long-awaited report on the human rights situation in China
At her meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday, Bachelet presented a book on the human rights situation in China. Author of the voluminous work: Xi Jinping. If it was the Chinese government’s intention to use Bachelet’s visit for a propaganda show in front of a home audience, it has achieved considerable success.
Bachelet pointed out that her trip had been prepared for three years. She and her team also spoke to experts abroad and relatives of those imprisoned in exile. Findings from this and from the stay on site are to be included in the long-awaited report by the UN on the situation of human rights in China and in Xinjiang in particular.
Despite all the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, human rights expert Alston sees Bachelet’s visit as positive. In addition to the knowledge gained abroad, it provides valuable additional impressions.