UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told leaders in Beijing that he expects them to allow UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to make a “credible” visit to China, including a stop in Xinjiang, his spokesman said on Saturday.
Guterres met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a readout of their talks said.
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,” it said.
Photo: AFP
A readout of the meeting from China’s state-run Xinhua news agency made no mention of the rights issue.
Campaigners say that at least 1 million mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in “re-education camps” in Xinjiang, a far-western region where China is accused of widespread human rights abuses including the forced sterilization of women and forced labor.
In the run-up to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs repeatedly emphasized Guterres’ support of the Games at daily briefings.
The UN chief himself congratulated Xi on the organization of the Games in their talks in Beijing, the statement from the world body said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi was one of a half-dozen heads of state who met with Xi on Saturday after attending the Olympic opening ceremony, seeking closer ties with China while shunning Western criticism of their heavy-handed rule.
Xi “hailed enhanced political trust” between the countries, citing cooperation in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Their comprehensive strategic partnership is a model of “China-Arab, China-Africa and China-developing world solidarity,” the official China Global Television Network, quoted Xi as saying.
“China and Egypt share similar visions and strategies in defending their own interests, pursuing common development, enhancing their people’s well-being and promoting fairness and justice in the world, as the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century,” Xi said.
Since taking power, al-Sissi has overseen a widespread crackdown on dissent and opposition, jailing tens of thousands and drawing international criticism.
Also on Saturday, Xi met with the heads of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Serbia, Ecuador and Qatar.
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
COMPLIANCE: The SEF has helped more than 3,900 Chinese verify documents, indicating that most of those affected are willing to cooperate, the MAC said More than 3,100 spouses from China have submitted proof of renunciation of their Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The National Immigration Agency has since April issued notices to spouses to submit proof that they had renounced their Chinese household registration on or before June 30 or their Taiwanese household registration would be revoked. People having difficulties obtaining such a document can request an extension of the deadline or submit a written affidavit in lieu of it. The council said it would hold a briefing at 2:30pm on Friday at the immigration agency’s Taichung office in cooperation with the
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
RSS