BEIJING, 20 February 2022, (TON): UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet can visit Xinjiang, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said “but China does not welcome any investigation based on the presumption of guilt.”

Bachelet has long sought access to the western Chinese region to investigate accusations of abuse against ethnic Uyghurs.

The issue has strained ties between Beijing and the West, sparking accusations of genocide from Washington and a US-led diplomatic boycott by some countries of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

"(China) rejects all kinds of biases, prejudices and uncalled-for accusations," Wang, who is also a Chinese state councillor, said at the Munich Security Conference when asked if Bachelet would have unrestricted access in Xinjiang.

Rights groups accuse China of widescale abuses against Uyghurs and other minority groups, including torture, forced labour and detention of one million people in internment camps.

China says the camps are re-education and training facilities and denies any abuse, saying it is fighting religious extremism.