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Cultural oppression: Xi speaks with UN rights chief during China visit

Supreme Desk
25 May 2022 11:25 AM GMT
Cultural oppression: Xi speaks with UN rights chief during China visit
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Muslim minority Uighurs of China

China’s leadership accuses Uighurs in the region of separatism, extremism and terrorism. However, members of the Muslim minority said that they were subject to political, religious and cultural oppression.

Chinese President, Xi Jinping has spoken with UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet during her trip to China.

The conversation took place via video on Wednesday, state media reported.

Bachelet's week-long visit to the country marks the first of a UN human rights commissioner in 17 years and comes amid fierce criticism of China's treatment of minorities in Xinjiang province.

A day earlier, international media published the "Xinjiang Police Files,'' a series of leaked data revealing the extent of persecution and mass internment of Uighurs and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang and north-west China.

The BBC, Der Spiegel and Le Monde were among the media that reported that the documents include thousands of photos and official speeches that offer a rare glimpse into the re-education camps and treatment of Muslim minority Uighurs and other minorities, and the hard line of Chinese rule.

Bachelet plans to travel to Xinjiang this week to examine the situation there, but rights groups and the U.S. government see it as unlikely she will be allowed the necessary free and monitored access to camps, detention centres and their inmates to come to an independent and unbiased conclusion.

Rights groups say there are hundreds of thousands of people in re-education camps in Xinjiang.

China's leadership accuses Uighurs in the region of separatism, extremism and terrorism.

However, members of the Muslim minority said that they were subject to political, religious and cultural oppression.

The Communist government incorporated the region, formerly known as East Turkestan, into the People's Republic of China after taking power in 1949.

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