China’s Xi holds rare meeting with UN rights chief

Bloomberg

Chinese President Xi Jinping held an unusual meeting with a top human rights chief, highlighting the importance his administration places on United Nations official Michelle Bachelet’s landmark visit to China.
Beijing is willing to discuss rights issues and cooperate with all parties on the basis of mutual respect, Xi said in a video call with Bachelet on Wednesday, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. Xi added that each country must follow a path of human rights development that suits it best based on its situation and the needs of its people.
Bachelet told Xi that the UN Human Rights Commission she heads is willing to boost communications and discuss cooperation with China. “I admire the efforts and achievement China has made in the areas of poverty elimination, human rights protection, as well as realising economic and social development,” she said, according to CCTV.
A UN Human Rights
Office spokesperson told Bloomberg News in an emailed excerpt of her comments that Bachelet said human rights must be at the core of “development, peace and security.”
“China has a crucial role to play within multilateral institutions in confronting many of the challenges currently facing the world, including threats to international peace and security, instability in the global economic system, inequality, climate change and more,” she added, according to the email.
Xi usually meets only with other heads of state and top leaders such as the UN secretary general. But his government has been harshly criticised for its human rights record, with US accusations of genocide in the remote Xinjiang region that Bachelet will visit becoming a major tension between
the world’s two largest economies.
Beijing vehemently denies the charge, saying it is countering religious extremism and bringing prosperity to the western region that’s home to the mostly Muslim Uyghur people.