Chutzpah in China

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet began a visit to China with a photo op with Beijing’s top diplomat that appeared to confirm the human rights community’s fears that the Chinese government will use the May 23-28 tour for propaganda and keep Bachelet from seeing the reality on the ground in troubled Xinjiang and other areas. With cameras clicking, Foreign Minister Wang Yi gave Bachelet “Excerpts from Xi Jinping on Respecting and Protecting Human Rights,” a book by China’s paramount leader, who has tightened Communist Party control and restricted speech and other freedoms to a degree not seen in decades.