UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the UN is holding “serious negotiations” with China for unfettered access to the Xinjiang region. The UN wants to verify reports of mistreatment of Uighur Muslims. China has, for long dodged reports of human rights violations in detention camps in the Xinjiang region.
Beijing has always claimed that the camps are for vocational training.
However, there have been reports of forced sterilisation of women, sexual violence and forced labour. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has been trying to organise a visit to the region.
At least one million Uighurs and people from other Muslim groups are currently being held in camps.
“A serious negotiation is at the present moment taking place between the office of the (UN human rights) commissioner and the Chinese authorities,” Guterres told CBC, a Canadian television network. “I hope that they will reach an agreement soon” to allow a visit “without restrictions or limitations,” Guterres said.
The US has placed sanctions on several senior Chinese leaders over China’s mistreatment of its Muslim minorities. Activists have expressed scepticism about the prospects for a meaningful visit with unfettered access in China, a Reuters report reads. The Chinese government maintains that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and the Tibetan region enjoy wide-ranging freedoms. Beijing, on Saturday, announced sanctions against two Americans, a Canadian and a rights advocacy body that had criticised its treatment of the Uighurs.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai told AFP that the US is not yet ready to lift tariffs on Chinese imports, but could be open to talks with Beijing.
