As Bachelet travels to China, Xinjiang police files show Uyghur repression

It is moments like this that critics of the U.N. trip worry will turn the first visit to China by a U.N. high commissioner for human rights since 2005 into little more than a propaganda coup for the Chinese government. Beijing has repeatedly denied accusations of committing cultural genocide against its minority Uyghur residents in Xinjiang, where an estimated 1 to 2 million residents have been incarcerated, according to rights researchers.

Bachelet is in China for a six-day trip at the invitation of Beijing in which she will visit Kashgar and Urumqi in Xinjiang, as well as Guangzhou. According to China’s Foreign Ministry, her trip will be conducted within a “closed loop” as part of coronavirus protection measures, a model used during the Beijing Winter Olympics in which only approved individuals are allowed in. No media will be traveling with Bachelet.

Who are the Uyghurs and what’s happening to them in China?

The highly orchestrated six-day visit comes as a new cache of documents further documenting abuses in the region was released Tuesday by the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Hacked from police computer servers in Xinjiang and authenticated by Xinjiang-focused researcher Adrian Zenz, the “Xinjiang Police Files” show the systemic targeting of expressions of Uyghur identity, culture and religion.

The Xinjiang Police Files includes thousands of mug shots of detainees, images of what appear to be drills for subduing them, and security protocols including the placement of sniper rifles in watch towers, as well as a shoot-to-kill policy for anyone trying to escape.

The documents add to a growing body of witness accounts, public records and satellite imagery and visits to the region by diplomats and journalists that have revealed the use of forced labor, the separation of children from their parents, repressed birthrates of Uyghur residents, and mass detentions in both reeducation camps and formal prisons.

Citing the new evidence, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss Tuesday called on China to allow Bachelet the freedom to investigate the claims. “If such access is not forthcoming, the visit will only serve to highlight China’s attempts to hide the truth of its actions in Xinjiang,” she said.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Friday that the United States was “deeply concerned” about Bachelet’s visit and had “no expectation” that she would be given the access needed for an accurate assessment of the human rights environment in Xinjiang.

Rights groups are not optimistic about the long-awaited trip either, which comes after more than three years of negotiations. Chinese authorities regularly block or intimidate journalists traveling in Xinjiang while also organizing highly choreographed visits by dignitaries and media from friendly countries.

China scrubs evidence of Xinjiang clampdown amid ‘genocide’ debate

“We don’t expect much from this visit. Ms. Bachelet will not be able to see much, or speak to Uyghurs in a free and secure environment, because of the fear of reprisals after the team leaves,” said Zumretay Arkin, spokeswoman for the World Uyghur Congress. “We believe that in this context, the visit will do more harm than good.”

When asked if Bachelet would be able to visit detention centers and reeducation camps — centers that Chinese authorities claim are vocational training schools — China’s Foreign Ministry said that it “rejects political manipulation.” Ahead of Bachelet’s visit, state media have run articles headlined: “Xinjiang, the most successful human rights story.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin Tuesday called U.S. and British calls for unfettered access an attempt to “sabotage” the trip.

“It seems that the United States and the United Kingdom and other countries don’t care about the truth at all, but want to use the visit of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to hype the so-called ‘Xinjiang issue’ and smear China,” he said.

Rights groups also point to the fact that Bachelet’s office has yet to release a landmark report on Xinjiang despite having said in December 2021 that the document would be “released soon.”

The trip coincides with strict covid controls imposed across China as the government pursues its strict zero-covid policy to contain outbreaks of the omicron variant. A group of more than 40 legislators belonging to the InterParliamentary Alliance on China last week accused Beijing of using coronavirus restrictions as an excuse to restrict the commissioner’s trip.

“This fact, together with strong indications that a Potemkin-style tour has been prepared for the UNHCHR by [China], make it hard to envisage a scenario where a meaningful visit could possibly be achieved,” a letter from the group read.

Rights advocates say the visit is still important for raising awareness and that judgment should be reserved until after the trip is completed.

“We should give her the benefit of the doubt and look at what comes out of the visit. Even if she doesn’t get unfettered access, if she’s clear about what happened and is able to highlight the machinery of these visits that the Chinese government has implemented for years, it’s already a contribution,” said Christelle Genoud, former human security adviser at the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing and a research associate at King’s College London.

Uighurs and their supporters decry Chinese ‘concentration camps,’ ‘genocide’ after Xinjiang documents leaked

Uyghur scholar and activist Abduweli Ayup, based in Norway, said that if Bachelet’s visit improves conditions for residents in a prison or detention center even for one day, it will be worthwhile.

“The people there might have better treatment for at least one day. So it’s important,” he said.

Abduweli, whose sister has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, is among many Uyghurs living abroad who are calling on Bachelet to try to find their relatives, missing, detained or imprisoned in Xinjiang.

“If she can tell me she’s alive. I’ll be happy,” he said.