UN human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet arrives in China for Xinjiang visit

The United Nations human rights commissioner Michelle Bachelet arrived in Guangdong, China, on May 23, 2022. She is the first UN human rights chief to visit the country since 2005. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said he hopes Bachelet’s visit will “have a positive effect in advancing the cause of international human rights”, and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said he hopes the trip will “clarify misinformation” about the country’s human rights record. Bachelet’s six-day trip includes a visit to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. China has been accused of widespread human rights abuses in Xinjiang, especially against members of the Uygur ethnic community and other Muslim groups.