UN Secretary-General, "Negotiating with China for Xinjiang Uyghur Human Rights Investigation Visit"

EU, US, and Canada Followed by UN in Pressuring China on Human Rights
Concerns Grow Over Global Spread of Beijing Winter Olympics Boycott

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), stated that the UN is negotiating with the Chinese government to allow investigators to visit China to investigate human rights conditions in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This is interpreted as the UN stepping up pressure following Western countries such as the European Union (EU), the United States, and Canada, which have consecutively raised human rights issues in Xinjiang and imposed sanctions on the Chinese government. The Chinese government is reportedly concerned that this could lead to a global boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

According to foreign media including the Associated Press (AP) on the 28th (local time), Antonio Guterres said in an interview with Canadian CBC that "The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is negotiating with China to freely visit and investigate the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region," and added, "We hope that free access will soon be allowed in China."

Earlier, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights announced that it had entered negotiations with China last month for a visit to investigate human rights in Xinjiang, but negotiations with the Chinese government are reportedly facing difficulties. Contrary to the offensive from Western countries, the Chinese government denies any human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang and continues to refuse the investigation.

Previously, the Chinese government retaliated by placing Gale Manchin, Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Vice Chair Tony Perkins, Canadian MP Michael Chong, and other U.S. and Canadian political figures related to sanctions on Xinjiang on its sanction list.

However, as the Chinese government sees the UN joining the sanctions movement alongside various countries, it is reportedly concerned about the spread of a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics next year. According to major foreign media, Canada already passed a resolution in parliament last month to directly boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics, and in the United States, voices calling for a boycott of the Winter Olympics are growing, mainly among Republicans. According to USA Today, Republican U.S. Representative Michael Waltz from Florida and others are reportedly preparing a resolution urging a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics within the U.S. Republican Party.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.