World

Laurie Chen: UN envoys tour Tibet on China-organised trip amid rights scrutiny

BEIJING: A gaggle of UN ambassadors are touring Tibet on a visit organized by China, diplomats mentioned, an obvious push by Beijing to counter mounting criticism of its human rights report forward of a evaluate by the worldwide physique in early 2024.
Images posted on the social media platform X prompt the journey was largely attended by China’s shut allies.
UN specialists have voiced repeated issues over Tibet – administered by Beijing as an autonomous area inside China – this yr, most just lately in August once they raised the plight of jailed Tibetan rights defenders.
America final week imposed visa sanctions on unnamed Chinese language officers for allegedly collaborating in “compelled assimilation” of Tibetan kids by state-run boarding faculties in search of to eradicate Tibet’s traditions, in line with a press release from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
China’s overseas ministry on Thursday vowed “reciprocal” measures and condemned US “lies on Tibet”.
China has additionally confronted criticism for its therapy of Muslims in its Xinjiang area which the UN mentioned a yr in the past might represent crimes in opposition to humanity.
China vigorously denies any wrongdoing in Tibet or Xinjiang.
UN member states are set to publicly study its rights report in early 2024 as a part of a evaluate course of on the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
A letter despatched by China’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva seen by Reuters invited diplomats to Beijing and the “XiZang Autonomous Area”, utilizing China’s time period for Tibet.
“I belief this journey will can help you higher perceive China’s human rights insurance policies and practices,” Chen Xu mentioned, mentioning conferences and discipline visits on training, tradition, faith, employment and kids’s rights.
China’s diplomatic mission in Geneva didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Its overseas ministry mentioned in a press release on Thursday that vice overseas minister, Ma Zhaoxu, met with a delegation of growing international locations on human rights, with out mentioning Tibet.
Reuters couldn’t decide who was invited on the Tibet journey, though two diplomats mentioned the invitation had been distributed broadly. Images posted on X by Cuba and China confirmed envoys from Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Belarus and Pakistan among the many group.
Official journeys to Tibet have been a lot rarer than to Xinjiang. This week, Xinjiang Communist Get together Secretary Ma Xingrui met with a consultant from the Worldwide Labour Group, state media mentioned, in what it mentioned was an indication of the area’s “open perspective”.

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