Chinese FM invites UN human rights chief to visit Xinjiang
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China's Foreign Minister says the United Nation's Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet can visit Xinjiang, calling systematic forced labor or education camps against the Uyghur minority a fabrication.
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Muslims gathered in Niujie Mosque, the largest mosque in Beijing, to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, May 2021 (GT)
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, can visit China's Xinjiang Province, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday.
Bachelet had been looking to investigate accusations of abuse against ethnic Uyghurs and China. Yi said that China does not welcome any investigation based on the presumption of guilt.
When asked if the UN Human Rights chief would have unrestricted access in Xinjiang, the foreign minister said "(China) rejects all kinds of biases, prejudices and uncalled-for accusations," adding "I hope you can believe the Chinese government, and trust what the Chinese government has said and the information that we have been releasing."
Wang also asserted last year that Western politicians were choosing to believe lies about what is happening in Xinjiang and said China would welcome people to visit the region.
"The so-called 'genocide' in Xinjiang is ridiculously absurd. It is a rumor with ulterior motives and a complete lie."
Biden signs law banning imports from Chinese Xinjiang region
US President Joe Biden signed on December 24, a law that virtually bans all imports from the Chinese region of Xinjiang in response to concerns over alleged forced labor.
The bill, which was approved by Congress one week earlier, bans the import of all goods from the region unless companies offer "verifiable proof that production did not involve claimed forced labor."
The signed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act sets its sights on three products, particularly cotton, of which Xinjiang is one of the world's major producers, tomatoes, and polysilicon, a material used to produce solar panels.
