U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet is undertaking a six-day visit to China that includes stops in Xinjiang, a remote northwestern region where the Chinese government has been accused of human rights violations and genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups.
In her first interaction with media in China, Michelle Bachelet said on Thursday that Beijing can play an "important role" in discussions to help aid "meaningful progress" on key global human rights issues.
Bachelet arrived in China on Monday, kicking off the first trip by a holder of the office since 2005 amid concerns by the US and others that it could lead to an endorsement rather than scrutiny of China's rights record. US state department Ned Price called her visit a mistake.
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Her trip has been long in the making after Bachelet said in 2018 she wanted unfettered access to Xinjiang. China said the visit should not be based on a presumption of guilt.
Rights groups worry that if Bachelet does not press China hard enough, her post-trip report may not give a full picture and could be used by Beijing to justify its actions in Xinjiang.
The World Uyghur Congress urged Bachelet in a letter to ensure that her team can move freely, access all detention facilities and have unsupervised contact with Uyghurs.
International scrutiny of the government's actions in Xinjiang heightened in 2018 after the United Nations said a million Uyghurs were held in "massive internment camps" set up for political indoctrination.
China initially denied the existence of any camps, then later admitted it had set up "vocational training centres" with dormitories where people can "voluntarily" check themselves in to learn about law, Chinese language and vocational skills.