Event on Xinjiang organized by U.S. and others is a political farce: Chinese UN mission

Foreign diplomats visit the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 30, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

The event is resolutely resisted by the overwhelming majority of member states and is an outright political farce, said a spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the UN.

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations on Wednesday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to a side event on the so-called human rights situation in Xinjiang organized by the United States, Britain and Germany as well as several other countries and nongovernmental organizations.

Wednesday's event was full of lies and disinformation, and was another poor show by the United States and a few other countries, further exposing their political attempt to use Xinjiang to create mess and contain China. The event is resolutely resisted by the overwhelming majority of member states and is an outright political farce, said the spokesperson.

The event is full of political motivation. While the United States and some other Western countries talk about "human rights in Xinjiang," they are actually thinking about using Xinjiang to contain China. They make a "presumption of guilt" and then fabricate so-called evidence. This trick has been repeated so many times, and so obvious to everyone, said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson pointed out that the co-sponsors of this event do not care about human rights in Xinjiang. Between 1990 and 2016, thousands of terrorist attacks occurred in Xinjiang, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. The United States and some other countries did not care about human rights in Xinjiang back then and turned a blind eye to the terrorists' indiscriminate killing of innocents. Thanks to China's efforts, for more than four years, there has been no terrorist incident in Xinjiang and people there are enjoying safety, peace and stability. And now these countries are suddenly concerned about human rights in Xinjiang. How ridiculous! The facts are crystal clear: The more than 3 million poor people in Xinjiang have all been lifted out of poverty; there are more than 24,000 mosques in the region, one for every 530 Muslims on average; primary and secondary education is conducted in seven languages, TV and radio programs broadcast in five ethnic minority languages. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Xinjiang, with a population of more than 25 million, has 980 confirmed cases in total and three deaths. In comparison, nearly 600,000 people have died in the United States, over 120,000 in Britain, and over 80,000 in Germany. How can there be human rights without the right to life and the right to development? What gives these countries the right to judge the human rights situation in Xinjiang?

A man and his wife rest in their house at the Qushou Village of Saybag Township in Moyu County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Nov. 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

Allegations of genocide, forced labor, systematic rape and torture in Xinjiang are all lies, said the spokesperson. Genocide, which is the most severe international crime, shall not be arbitrarily determined by any state, organization, or individual. In the past four decades, the Uygur population in Xinjiang more than doubled, from 5.55 million to 12.8 million. Where is the genocide? In Xinjiang, 70 percent of cotton is harvested by machine. Jobs in the cotton industry are well-paid and competitive. Why the need for forced labor? China is among the safest countries in the world. All crimes are punished in accordance with law. So-called systematic rape is just a shameless lie.

Farmers cover field with plastic films in preparation for cotton sowing in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, March 28, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Zhipeng)

The spokesperson pointed out that it is the main sponsors of the event that are lying and need some soul-searching. It is the United States that waged wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria based on lies, killing countless innocent Muslims. It is Britain that slaughtered people worldwide in several centuries of colonization, and set up in South Africa the world's first concentration camp. It is Germany that killed over 6 million Jewish people, leaving a horrible legacy of genocide. These countries' wrongdoings will never be forgotten.

Xinjiang is a wonderful land. All ethnic groups there will enjoy an even better life. On Xinjiang, China has nothing to hide. At the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, 64 countries, including Muslim countries, made a joint statement in support of China's policies in Xinjiang. The doors to Xinjiang are always open. In 2019 alone, Xinjiang received over 200 million domestic and foreign visitors. In the past few years, over 1,200 diplomats, journalists and scholars from more than 100 countries have visited Xinjiang. China welcomes everyone to visit Xinjiang, but opposes so-called investigations based on lies and with the presumption of guilt, said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson stressed China's unswerving determination to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests and to oppose the attempts of any country, any force or any individual to use Xinjiang to interfere in China's internal affairs and disrupt China's development. Any attempt to use Xinjiang to contain China is doomed to fail.