GENEVA (Reuters) – United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Friday that China is restricting basic civil and political freedoms in the name of national security and COVID-19 measures.
Bachelet told the Human Rights Council in Geneva that more than 600 people in Hong Kong are being investigated for taking part in protests. Reports about violations including arbitrary detention and forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region need independent assessment, she said.
“I am confident that through our ongoing dialogue we will find mutually agreeable parameters for my visit to China,” she said about negotiations with Beijing on the visit’s terms.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay, editing by John Revill)
