At UN, China firmly opposes Xinjiang side event

A spokesperson of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Wednesday expressed opposition to a side event on the so-called human rights situation in Xinjiang, organized by the US, the UK and a few other Western countries.

The side event is "full of lies and disinformation" and further exposes the group's "political attempt to use Xinjiang to contain China", the spokesperson said. "Such an event is widely resisted by the overwhelming majority of member states and is a self-staged political farce.

"The side event is a desperate struggle of the US and a few Western countries after their lies about Xinjiang were exposed. The US fabricated lies of 'genocide' in Xinjiang, which finds no support at all [and only shamed itself]," the spokesperson said.

The group, in an effort to put Xinjiang-related issues on the agenda, submitted a draft decision to the Human Rights Council but failed in the vote, the spokesperson said.

The Human Rights Council "explicitly rejected their political maneuver" and refused to endorse the assessment, which was released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights "under Western countries' coercive diplomacy", according to the spokesperson.

Unwilling to accept their failure in Geneva, the group continued to hype the issue of Xinjiang in New York by inviting a few anti-China experts and witnesses to "perform such a farce", the spokesperson said.

"No matter how the US and other Western countries glamorize the side event, it is a political farce contrary to the fact and truth and has been rejected by the majority," the spokesperson said.

The side event "serves the political interest of the US to suppress others and maintain its hegemony," the spokesperson said.

"The US fears the rise of developing countries and regards China's development as a challenge and threat to its hegemony. So, the US and a few Western countries are trying to use Xinjiang to create a mess in China," the spokesperson said.

The US overlooked terrorist attacks on Xinjiang but started to "make political farce and maliciously attacks and smears China", the spokesperson said.

"It is clear to all that the US cares nothing about human rights in Xinjiang but its own hegemony. The US' attempt to undermine China's development is against the trend of the times and is doomed to fail. Human society has entered the 21st century; the days when Western countries intimidated and bullied developing countries are long gone."

The group has "incited several anti-China joint statements in the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee of the General Assembly", the spokesperson said, adding that the core group mainly consists of former colonial countries that have "committed numerous crimes such as slave trade, colonial plunder, and massacre of indigenous people".

"In particular, the US, Canada and a few countries are still using all means to pressure and threaten other member states to co-sponsor the joint statement. Fortunately, the vast majority of member states have long seen through the anti-China nature and political motivation of such a joint statement. Their political manipulation will never succeed," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson urged the US, Canada and a few other Western countries to "reflect on, apologize and compensate for their crimes, to stop violating human rights, discriminating against ethnic minorities, killing of civilians in their overseas military operations, and to stop gun violence and other grave human rights violations, and hold those accountable".

"We call upon the US and a few Western countries to stop provoking confrontation, abandoning double standards and pursuing dialogue and cooperation on human rights [on the basis of equality and mutual respect]," the spokesperson said.