Opinion | UN rights chief to visit Xinjiang after Olympics

By Augustus K. Yeung

Introduction

China's "managerial decision" to let UN rights chief visit Xinjiang is expected, though the timing is a bit late, unfortunately allowing the nagging argument to continue unresolved. As they say, "Seeing is believing." This is the best and the most rational way to settle the dispute over the Xinjiang issue, exemplifying and epitomizing all signs of managerial decision—knowing that China takes Management Science seriously.

The timing of this decision that is tied to the opening of the Winter Olympics may show that this is politically motivated –to appease the critics--but it is a good deal that should be acceptable to all parties involved.

The most significant condition is that the UN human rights chief is "invited" not as an investigator, but as a good will visitor.

This decision may torpedo harsh critics' allegations of the so-called China's abuse of human rights in Xinjiang.

China to Allow UN Rights Chief to Visit Xinjiang

"China has agreed to host a visit to Xinjiang by United Nations rights chief Michelle Bachelet "in the first half of the year after the Beijing Winter Olympics," reports Catherine Wong for the Post which has secured "exclusive" interviews with people familiar with the situation. ("China to let UN rights chief visit Xinjiang after Olympics, sources say". South China Morning Post. Friday, January 28, 2022)

The UN's top human rights official has been negotiating with Beijing since September 2018 for a visit to Xinjiang, where some 1 million Uyghurs are alleged to have been held in mass detention camps.

Sources said Bachelet recently secured China's approval for a visit to the region sometime after the Olympics, which open this Friday (February 4), with the prerequisite the trip should be "friendly" in nature and not framed as an investigation.

Bachelet's Office to Hold Off Releasing Report on Xinjiang

Beijing also insisted that Bachelet's office hold off on publishing a report on the Xinjiang region ahead of the Games, as requested by Washington, the sources said.

"After recent rounds of discussions with Bachelet and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, China has agreed to host Bachelet in the first half of the year after the Beijing Winter Olympics," said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified.

"But China also made clear that it wants to define the trip as a friendly visit instead of an investigation with the presumption of guilt."

Bachelet's office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

The Xinjiang Issue is US-led War of Words Targeting China

The narrative war between China and the United States has been heating up with the approach of the Winter Olympics.

Washington is doubling down on its allegations of China's "ongoing genocide as crimes against humanity in Xinjiang" – angrily dismissed by Beijing, which sees them as designed to undermine China and its efforts to host a successful Olympics.

The US and some of its allies – including Britain, Canada and Australis – have said they would not send official diplomatic delegations to the Games in protest against China's human rights record.

The Ban of Goods from Xinjiang is also US-led

US President Joe Biden's administration further turned up the pressure last month with legislation that effectively bans all imports from Xinjiang, in China's far west, over allegations of forced labor.

Two US lawmakers, Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative James McGovern, on the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China, last week released a letter sent to Bachelet. It asked her to publicly release her office's Xinjiang report before the start of Beijing Winter Olympics.

Beijing has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in Xinjiang, and has said its policies in the region aim to strengthen vocational training and stern religious extremism.

The UN human rights office said last September that it was finalizing its assessment of the situation in Xinjiang.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for Bachelet, said in December that the office hoped to publish its report "in the coming weeks". ("China to let UN rights chief visit Xinjiang after Olympics, sources say". South China Morning Post. Friday, January 28, 2022)

Conclusion

The UN report should be released after its human rights chief's visit to Xinjiang; the passage to Xinjiang is a logical step forward, following the visit, which is valuable as a fact-collecting and final-impression-making of China's management of Xinjiang.

Whatever the outcoming of the findings of the UN report, would the contending parties be able to settle the Xinjiang issue once and for all, or the critics would just continue to challenge the "truth" of the UN report?

If it is out of genuine human rights concerns, the UN's report after the chief's visit should be able to settle the dispute.

Political parties on the side of America and its allies that are politically motivated are expected to continue to stir "fry" the Xinjiang issue in much the same way, with much the same enthusiasm, and with no less heat intensity as they would the Chinese rice.

China's "managerial decision" shows Beijing's determination to not let the ill-intentioned critics taint the Olympic spirit.

 

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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