China rebuffs US concerns over UN official's trip to Xinjiang

Chinese authorities are pushing back at U.S. objections to a recent trip by a United Nations official to Xinjiang.

File photo of Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang. [Photo: fmprc.gov.cn]

A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry says the visit to Xinjiang by UN Under Secretary-General for Counterterrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, allowed him a better understanding of Chinese anti-terrorism and anti-extremism campaigns in the region.

The Chinese statement is in response to suggestions made by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, who complained about the trip in a phone call with U.N Secretary-General António Guterres.

Rebuffing the U.S. concerns, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said the trip has helped strengthen China's cooperation with the United Nations in anti-terrorism.

The Chinese statement also notes a number of foreign officials, diplomats, scholars and journalists have also travelled through Xinjiang recently, who the Foreign Ministry says have spoken highly of China's counter-terrorism work, as well as the region's development.