West devious human rights standard bearer

Last week at a United Nations conference, 23 countries, led by the United Kingdom and the United States, criticized China's anti-terrorism and counter-extremism policies in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. That their allegations were ill-founded and ill-intentioned is indubitable, as evidenced by the more than 60 other countries which gave short shrift to their accusations. They praised China for its achievements in restoring peace and stability in the region and upholding the human rights of all who live there.

These 60-plus countries, which have a more objective view of the challenges that China faces in the region, denounced the bid by the US and its allies to defame China's de-radicalization efforts in Xinjiang, and opposed their use of human rights as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs.

The international support China has gained for its anti-extremism measures in Xinjiang underscores the failure of some Western countries to employ a double standard on terrorism, in which they try to portray their actions as laudable contributions to the fight against terrorism while defaming those who are not in their good books as violating human rights.

Over the years, Western countries have habitually used their so-called human rights concerns as justification for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. The US has even used human rights as a means to engineer regime change.

But the attempts by the US and its allies to smear China's anti-extremism initiatives in Xinjiang expose how politically motivated their banner waving is.

Thanks to the effective measures introduced by the central government and the solidarity of all ethnic groups, Xinjiang is now a much safer place. There has not been a single violent terrorist attack in Xinjiang in the past three years.

During the same period, there have been terrorist attacks in many countries around the world, indicating how valuable China's exploration of counter-extremism initiatives in Xinjiang may be for other countries to emulate. The peace, stability and prosperity that Xinjiang enjoys today, are testament to the effectiveness of the measures it has introduced, which include the vocational training and education centers that are being much maligned by Western countries.

By effectively safeguarding the right of people of all ethnic groups to participate in development and share the fruits of development, China is actually making new progress in human rights protection not just for Xinjiang, but also for other places plagued by pernicious extremism.