The United Nations (UN) rights envoy on Saturday defended her contentious visit to China, but urged authorities to avoid "arbitrary and indiscriminate" measures in Xinjiang, a region where Beijing is accused of widespread human rights abuses.Michelle Bachelet's remarks were swiftly criticised by activists and NGOs, who accused her of providing Beijing with a major propaganda win.Bachelet's long-planned trip this week has taken her to the far-western Xinjiang region, where

China faced new accusations Tuesday that it was sanctioning abuses of Uyghurs at the "highest levels", as a vast document leak came out during a controversial visit by the United Nations (UN) rights chief.The ruling Communist Party is accused of detaining over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang as part of a years-long crackdown the United States (US) and lawmakers in other Western countries have labelled a "genocide".China

As the world’s largest, strongest, and longest-surviving dictatorship, contemporary China lacks the rule of law. Yet it is increasingly using its rubber-stamp parliament to enact domestic legislation asserting territorial claims and rights in international law.

China's overtures to the Taliban indicate a bid to extract maximum benefit from the dramatic collapse of the United States (US) project in Afghanistan.But Beijing will remain watchful of the hardliners now running the show in Kabul, especially as Afghanistan borders China's eastern Xinjiang province, home to the Muslim-majority Uyghurs, analysts say.Around a fortnight before the Islamists seized power in a lightning offensive that stunned the world, Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted a

She was already beyond child-bearing age, but Qelbinur Sedik says Chinese authorities still forcibly sterilised her, part of what she describes as a systematic campaign to suppress births of Uyghurs and other minorities in the tense Xinjiang region.In 2019, Sedik – then aged 50 – says she begged authorities to spare her from being fitted with the compulsory Intrauterine Device (IUD), as previous attempts resulted in severe pain and bleeding.So, community workers gave her no choice but to be s

The United States (US) government needlessly escalated its rhetoric against China by claiming that a genocide is being mounted against the Uighur people in the Xinjiang region.

China's "wolf warrior" diplomats are back after a brief lull, firing insults over Twitter, smearing critics and suggesting conspiracies.The hyperactivity of these envoys follows renewed global pressure over Beijing's treatment of the Muslim Uyghur minority in China's Xinjiang region.Here are five things to know about wolf warriors:The term "wolf warrior diplomacy" became common parlance in 2019, when Chinese envoys – most prominently, spokesman Zhao Lijian –

Qelbinur Sedik was making breakfast when the video call came, and the sight of her sister's name made her nervous. Many months had passed since the two had spoken. In fact, many months had passed since Sedik had spoken to any of her family in China.Sedik was in the kitchen of her temporary home in the Netherlands, where she shared a room with several other refugees, mostly from Africa.

The year of the ox has begun darkly for the people of Hong Kong.

United States (US) President Joe Biden revealed Thursday that his first phone call with Xi Jinping lasted a marathon two hours, during which he challenged his Chinese counterpart on human rights, trade and regional muscle-flexing.But an increasingly assertive Xi pushed back, according to Chinese state media, telling Biden that issues such as Beijing's crushing of opposition in Hong Kong and saber-rattling on Taiwan are China's "internal affairs.""Last night, I was in