UN Human Rights Chief Challenges China's Uyghur Policies

    Image copyright: AFP/Getty Images [via NBC News]

    The Facts

    • Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights chief, said on Sat. that she has asked Chinese officials to reconsider the impact of counterterrorism and deradicalization policies on Uyghurs and other primarily Muslim groups.

    • The ruling Communist Party has faced renewed accusations of minority abuses following a vast document leak that coincided with her controversial visit to the far-western region of Xinjiang.


    The Spin

    Anti-China narrative

    Despite the warnings set out by the Biden admin, Bachelet has allowed her visit to be turned into a propaganda win for the Chinese Communist Party. She grotesquely praised their "tremendous achievements" in human rights in relation to poverty and failed to clearly condemn ongoing government-led repression and genocide. The UN must do more to tackle human rights abuses in China or risk becoming complicit.

    Pro-China narrative

    While anti-China forces continue attempting to pin fabricated allegations of "genocide" on Beijing, Bachelet has concluded an open and successful visit, the first of a UN Human Rights High Commissioner to China for 17 years. Blatant attempts to smear China carry on, as the US ignores the real purpose of Bachelet's trip and attempts to turn the UN into its puppet.

    Establishment-critical narrative

    Genocide accusations against China all originate from a single source: a German right-wing religious extremist, Adrian Zenz, affiliated with shady neoconservative think tanks. A careful review of Zenz's so-called evidence in the past has revealed flagrant data abuse and outright fabrications.

    Nerd narrative

    There is a 25% chance that the UN will open an investigation into the issue of Xinjiang internment camps by 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.



    Establishment split

    CRITICAL

    PRO

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