'Fabricated' human rights stories faulted

A Chinese ambassador to the United Nations on Monday strongly refuted accusations against China on the issue of human rights made by the US, Canada and others at the Third Committee of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

"No matter how those countries, the US in particular, hype up the stories they fabricated to keep the farcical show going, they cannot obliterate the progress of the human rights cause in China's Xinjiang region, which is a fact and the truth," said Dai Bing, chargés d'affaires at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the United Nations. "What's in store for them is nothing but self-inflicted humiliation."

Dai's statement to the Third Committee, which discusses human rights and social development issues, gained support from an overwhelming majority of UN member states.

Cuba, on behalf of 66 countries, spoke in support of China at Monday's meeting. It stressed that respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of states and non-interference in their internal affairs represent basic norms in international relations.

The statement said that issues related to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet are China's internal affairs and it opposed politicization of human rights and double standards, or interference in China's affairs under the pretext of human rights.

The joint statement also called for all parties to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; adhere to the principles of universality, impartiality, objectivity and non-selectivity; and respect the rights of the people of each state to choose independently the development path in accordance with their national conditions.

Saudi Arabia, on behalf of six Gulf states, and Yemen and Libya stressed the objective, constructive and non-political principle on human rights issues and called upon all states to follow the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to respect national sovereignty and noninterference in internal affairs.

Venezuela, on behalf of 19 member states of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the UN, criticized the fact that some governments have been unable to fully guarantee the right to non-discrimination for their own citizens while illegally imposing unilateral, coercive measures, which has become a modern form of systematic discrimination.

The statement said that the international community should insist on multilateralism as a guarantee of faith in human rights and in the creation of all conditions for justice and social development for all.

Dai pointed out that many other developing countries also took to the floor Monday to comment positively on what China has achieved in human rights development.

The statement of the Non-Aligned Movement made at this committee on behalf of 120 developing countries opposes "in no uncertain terms, selectivity and politicization, as well as country-specific human rights mechanisms and/or resolutions targeting developing countries".

"What is right and what is wrong is all too clear; so is the sentiment of the international community. No matter how the US and a handful of other Western countries package their anti-China joint statement, the malicious political intentions contained therein cannot be kept under wraps, and their machinations are doomed to failure," said Dai.

Dai said the real purpose of the US and some other Western countries in creating a furor over Xinjiang is to "destabilize China, obstruct her development and maintain their hegemony by exploiting human rights issues".

"It's plainly visible to all that caring about human rights in Xinjiang is just a façade, behind which lies their true intent, namely, to contain China by making and spreading lies about Xinjiang and to maintain their hegemony," said Dai, adding that it is China that is "in the crosshairs of their punitive flak" today. He said that tomorrow it would be some other developing country.

Dai stressed that by applying double standards on human rights, the US and some other Western countries have set the bar for hypocrisy. A minority of countries, including the US and those in the EU, have named and "shamed dozens of UN member states, but they feign ignorance of their own vile human rights records and those of their allies".

Dai emphasized that "the Chinese people of all ethnicities, including the Uygurs, are embarking on a new journey towards Chinese-style modernization, their hearts swelling with hope".