Beijing, Sep 1 (PTI) Taken by surprise over the release of UN Human Rights assessment accusing China of "serious human rights violations" against Uygur Muslims in the restive Xinjiang province disregarding its fierce opposition, Beijing on Thursday denounced it as a US-orchestrated report to contain it and termed the damning document as "illegal, null and void."

The much-awaited report by outgoing UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who earlier visited Xinjiang after a long diplomatic tussle with Beijing, was released by her in Geneva in a dramatic fashion, much to the surprise of China which had studiously opposed its release.

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"The so-called assessment is orchestrated and produced by the US and some western forces. It is completely illegal and null and void," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here while slamming the report.

Bachelet, the former President of Chile, who came under immense pressure, finally brushed aside Beijing's opposition and released the report on the last day of her office on Wednesday, apparently minutes before she bowed out of office.

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She earlier also announced that she won't be seeking another term and settle down in her home country Chile.

Observers say her report could pose a significant challenge to UN Secretary-General Antony Guterres to take it forward for action considering China being a veto-wielding member and its growing influence over the UN system.

Also, it comes at a politically sensitive time for Chinese President Xi Jinping who is widely reported to get an unprecedented third term in next month's ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) 20th congress.

If confirmed, he will be the first CPC leader since its founder Mao Zedong to get a third five-year term whereas all his predecessors retired after a ten-year tenure.

The report, while falling short of terming the allegation of human rights abuse of Uygur Muslims of Xinjiang as genocide as alleged by the US and western countries, said the charges may constitute "crimes against humanity," which may seriously dent Beijing's defence of its crackdown in the resource-rich Xinjiang - the home for over 10 million Turkic speaking Uygur Muslims who oppose large scale Han Chinese settlements in the region to dilute their majority status.

It has called for an urgent international response over allegations of torture and other rights violations in Beijing's campaign to root out terrorism in Xinjiang.

The report said it found evidence of torture in detention camps described by China as vocational training centres and pointed to “unusual” and “coercive” government actions, leading to a starkly plunging birth rate in Xinjiang.

It also said China conducted “coercive family planning policies enforced by strict measures, such as fines, referrals and threats of referral to [Vocational Education and Training Centres] or other detention facilities, in breach of reproductive rights during the period 2017-2019”.

It recommended “urgent action” by the Chinese government, the UN and the “international community more broadly” to address the human rights situation in Xinjiang.

Beijing defends its crackdown against Xinjiang, saying the move is aimed at containing the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which is allegedly linked to radical outfits like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

China has also been accused of carrying out a campaign of sinicization of Islam which broadly meant bringing it in tune with the policies of the ruling Communist Party.

Answering a spate of questions on the UN report, Wang said it is a patchwork of disinformation that serves as a political tool for the US and other western countries to strategically use the Xinjiang issue to contain China.

Terming the content of the report as political, Wang said it violates the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations (OHCHR).

Wang said the OHCHR has been reduced to being the accomplice of the US and other western countries to force the developing countries to fall in line with them.

But at the same time, he pointed out that despite its illegality and zero credibility, the report did not go to the extent of playing up the allegations such as genocide, forced labour religious oppression and forced sterilisation".

"It shows that the lies of the Century concocted by the US and other countries have already collapsed," Wang said, adding that nearly 100 countries including several countries spoke in support of China over its policies in Xinjiang.

The 45-page report, which documented what it described as arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uygur and other predominately Muslim groups within the context of the government's "application of counter-terrorism and counter-'extremism' strategies," was hailed by rights groups as a ground-breaking moment in the effort to hold the Chinese government to account.

The report comes four years after a committee of UN experts called attention in August 2018 to "credible reports" that more than 1 million Uygur and other Muslim minority peoples were interned in extrajudicial camps in Xinjiang for "re-education" and indoctrination.

According to the UN report, "the described policies and practices in (the region) have transcended borders, separating families and severing human contacts, while causing particular suffering to affected Uygur, Kazakh and other predominantly Muslim minority families, exacerbated by patterns of intimidations and threats against members of the diaspora community speaking publicly."

The UN report said China's "anti-terrorism law system" is "deeply problematic from the perspective of international human rights norms and standards" and "has in practice led to the large-scale arbitrary deprivation of liberty" of Uygurs and other Muslim communities.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)