China says attempts to keep Xinjiang down or contain it won't get anywhere

93
3
China says attempts to keep Xinjiang down or contain it won't get anywhere

Local residents walk in a street at a scenic spot in the old city of Kashgar, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on May 16, 2020. PHOTO XINHUA BEIJING - The facts have proven time and again that politicizing human rights and practicing double standards is deeply unpopular and attempts to use Xinjiang-related issues to keep China down or contain it won't get anywhere, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Thursday.

According to media reports, the 51st session of the Human Rights Council voted down a US-led draft decision on Xinjiang on October 6.

In response to a media query, the spokesperson said that for some time the US and some other Western countries have misinformed the public about Xinjiang and sought political manipulation in the name of human rights to smear China's image and contain China's development.

Despite facts and truths, these countries spread falsehoods on Xinjiang to the Human Rights Council and put together a draft decision on that erroneous basis in an attempt to interfere with China's internal affairs and serve the agenda of using Xinjiang to contain China, the spokesperson said.

The international community would not be easily misled. Despite pressure from the US and some other Western countries on the member states, the draft decision ended up unsupported by the majority of the Human Rights Council membership, particularly many members of the developing world, according to a spokesperson who added that the agenda pushed by the US and some other Western forces has failed to gain international support.

The spokesperson said they are about countering violent terrorism, radicalization and separatism.

There has been no violent terrorist incident in Xinjiang for more than five consecutive years thanks to strenuous efforts. The human rights of people of all ethnicities in Xinjiang are protected like never before, the spokesperson said.

The international community is aware that the ultimate motive of the US and some other western countries behind their Xinjiang narrative is to contain China and does not like this pattern of using human rights as a pretext to meddle in other countries' internal affairs. In recent years, nearly 100 countries, including many Islamic countries, have spoken out at the Human Rights Council, the Third Committee of the UN General AssemblyUN General Assembly and elsewhere openly support China's position on issues related to Xinjiang and oppose using these issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.

The facts have proven time and again that politicizing human rights and practicing double standards is deeply unpopular and attempts to use Xinjiang-related issues to keep China down or contain it will get nowhere, the spokesperson said.

The Human Rights Council needs to focus on the serious human rights violations of the US, UK, and some Western forces, including systemic racism and racial discrimination, rampant gun violence, unilateral coercive measures, and massive killings of innocent civilians in overseas military operations. The victims are still waiting for justice to be done and the international community demands accountability, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the US and some other Western forces must abandon political manipulation, disinformation and suppression, return to dialogue and cooperation and make real contributions to the global advancement of human rights.

READ MORE: Xinjiang seen as a key to deepening SCO ties.