China calls out ‘lies’ regarding Xinjiang, Tibet

KARACHI: China has said that Western countries have “attacked and smeared China under the pretext of human rights” by concocting what it says are “rumours and lies” on issues related to the Xinjiang province of China and Xizang (or Tibet).

These statements came during China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning’s regular press briefing on Tuesday. She was responding to a question by the AFP correspondent there who had asked about a statement by the UN high commissioner for human rights regarding China’s policies and practices that “violate†human rights in Xinjiang and Tibet.

The question came in the context of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk a day earlier calling on the government of China to implement the recommendations made by his office and other human rights bodies “in relation to laws, policies and practises that violate fundamental rights, including in the Xinjiang and Tibet regions.”

Saying that “Xinjiang and Xizang enjoy social stability, economic growth, solidarity among all ethnic groups and harmony among various religious beliefs”, Ning added that the people in those regions are living a happy life.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson spoke about the “political agenda and double standards of the US and other Western countries” and said their lies have been rejected by more and more people and that “in recent years, more than 100 countries have supported China’s just position on issues related to Xinjiang, Xizang and Hong Kong and opposed interference in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of human rights at multilateral human rights meetings. This fully proves that the world is not blind to the truth.”

While maintaining that it is ready to carry out dialogue and communication with the UN human rights body and other parties on the basis of mutual respect, China has also urged the UN human rights body to “respect the judicial sovereignty of member states, carry out its work under the principle of impartiality, objectivity, non-selectivity and non-politicization, and play a constructive role in promoting the healthy development of the international human rights cause.”

Ning also elaborated on China “putting the people front and center” and having found a path “toward better human rights that follows the trend of the times and fits our national realities and made historic achievements in the human rights cause.”