United Nations High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet's recent trip to China was not an investigation.
She noted she was invited to visit and was able to meet with senior government officials, civil society organizations and academic, community and religious leaders in a statement about her visit.
"This visit was not an investigation – official visits by a High Commissioner are by their nature high-profile and simply not conducive to the kind of detailed, methodical, discreet work of an investigative nature," Bachelet said in her statement. "The visit was an opportunity to hold direct discussions – with China’s most senior leaders – on human rights, to listen to each other, raise concerns, explore and pave the way for more regular, meaningful interactions in the future, with a view to supporting China in fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law."
Bachelet visited China at the end of May, the first visit from someone in her position since 2005, The Washington Stand reported.
Before her visit, hacked files containing information about 2,884 Uyghur individuals between the ages of 15 and 73 who are detained in Xinjiang were released, the story said. The files also noted Chinese Communist Party authorities are under orders to shoot-to-kill any detainees who try to escape.
Although the U.S. formally declared China's actions against the Uyghur population constitute genocide, Bachelet used CCP terminology, such as “deradicalization” and “anti-terrorism” efforts, when discussing the issue in he statement, the Stand reported.
Bachelet praised China in her statement, saying China's efforts to alleviate poverty is 10 years ahead of schedule.
"I have raised questions and concerns about the application of counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation measures and their broad application – particularly their impact on the rights of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities," Bachelet said in her statement regarding Uyghurs. "I encouraged the government to undertake a review of all counter terrorism and deradicalization policies to ensure they fully comply with international human rights standards, and in particular that they are not applied in an arbitrary and discriminatory way."
"The United States remains concerned about the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and her team’s visit to the People’s Republic of China and PRC efforts to restrict and manipulate her visit,"U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a news statement. "The United States remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in the PRC, particularly in light of new reports that offer further proof of arbitrary detentions among the more than one million people detained in Xinjiang.
"Survivors and family members of detainees have described cruel treatment that shocks the conscience, including torture, forced sterilization, state-sponsored forced labor, sexual violence and forced separation of children from their parents," Blinken added, according to his statement.
