29 August 2025
Australia’s Ambassador to China, Scott Dewar, visited the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from 26-29 August.
This was the first visit to Xinjiang by an Australian ambassador since 2014.
Ambassador Dewar met with senior officials including Party Secretary Chen Xiaojiang, and raised with them directly the Australian Government’s ongoing serious concerns about human rights in Xinjiang. He visited a range of sites, including a mosque, a vocational training centre, and other religious and cultural institutions, to better understand the current situation.
The Australian Government remains concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and continues to urge China to implement the recommendations that Australia raised during China’s Universal Periodic Review in the UN Human Rights Council.
The Government will continue to raise our-concerns about human rights in Xinjiang publicly, in multilateral forums and directly with Chinese authorities.