Xinjiang officials, residents lambast U.S. "forced labor" fallacies

BEIJING, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Officials and residents from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Thursday lambasted lies and fallacies of "large-scale forced labor" in Xinjiang, recently fabricated by some anti-China forces in the United States.

U.S. leaders have no qualification or authority to make arbitrary accusations against Xinjiang affairs, which are purely China's internal affairs, Xu Guixiang, a spokesperson with the regional government, told a press conference in Beijing Thursday.

Xinjiang-related issues are not ethnic, religious, or human rights issues, but anti-terrorism, anti-infiltration, anti-separatism, and anti-interference issues, Xu said.

The outrageous U.S. act of spreading the fallacy of so-called "forced labor" is sure to be rejected by the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and criticized by the people of vision in the international community, he said.

The labor rights and interests of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are protected under the law, and their freedom has never been restricted, said Buhajar Abla, head of the economic and social development research center with Xinjiang Agriculture University.

"People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are working under the sun with dignity and creating a happy and beautiful life of their own. There is no such thing as so-called 'forced labor'", Buhajar Abla told reporters.

For some time, anti-China forces have attempted to suppress enterprises in Xinjiang through sanctions and create "forced unemployment" and "forced poverty" under the pretext of so-called "forced labor." Reyla Qahar, an employee of Xinjiang Kuqa Pomegranate Seed Clothing Co., Ltd., is very indignant at the attempt.

"They (anti-China forces) keep talking about human rights and 'caring about the living conditions of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang,' but in fact, they are the ones who violate our human rights and destroy our happy life," said Reyla Qahar.

Aygul Sidiq, an employee of Xinjiang Hesheng Silicon Industry Co., Ltd., said the company treats employees of all ethnic groups equally and does not restrict their freedom.

In addition to various insurance and wage income, the company offers additional food allowance and other benefits, Aygul Sidiq told the press briefing.

"The U.S. government is forcing us to lose jobs and become poor by imposing sanctions on our company under the guise of so-called human rights," said Aygul Sidiq.