Australian foreign minister to raise concern over internment camps on China visit

SYDNEY: Australia's concerns over internment camps in China's far west, where rights groups say up to a million people are being held without charge, will be raised this week when the country's foreign minister visits Beijing, she said yesterday.

Marise Payne said she will register ‘serious concerns' over the huge facilities in Xinjiang, where activists say hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other mainly-Muslim minorities are detained in political re-education camps.

The visit is the first by an Australian foreign minister in almost three years, as Canberra and Beijing seek to move past a period of awkward diplomatic relations.

“Obviously we have a very substantial relationship, and it works in the interests of both sides and we're committed to building on our comprehensive strategic partnership,” Payne told national broadcaster ABC.

While China is Australia's largest trading partner, ties between the two governments have been strained in recent years over allegations Beijing was interfering in domestic politics and using donations to gain access.

But amid a growing trade spat between the US and China, Payne's visit is seen as an opportunity for Canberra to leverage its economic relationship.

In a statement late Monday, Payne said strategic cooperation with China ‘is a priority of the highest order for Australia'.

However, she said, her government did “have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang” and would raise the issue with her opposite number Wang Yi while she is in Beijing tomorrow and Friday.

“There'll be statements made in the (United Nations) Human Rights Council this week, and I will pursue matters in the course of my discussions in an appropriate way,” she told Australian broadcaster ABC.

China is expected to be grilled about the camps as it undergoes its periodic review by the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

Beijing has defended the facilities, saying they are ‘vocational education and training centres' and are part of its efforts to combat terrorism in the region.