Remarks of spokesperson of China's embassy in the UK regarding report on Xinjiang

Question: The Foreign Affairs Committee of UK House of Commons recently published a report titled "Never Again: The UK's Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond". What is the comment of the Embassy?

Embassy Spokesperson: This is nothing but a pack of disinformation. It is an attempt out of ulterior political motives to deliberately slander China's policy on Xinjiang and wantonly interfere in China's internal affairs. We are outraged and firmly opposed to it.

China has always adhered to the people-centered approach to human rights, believes that living a life of contentment is the ultimate human right, promotes the well-rounded development of all the people, and protects their human rights and basic freedom according to law. Thanks to our unremitting efforts, Xinjiang now enjoys social stability, ethnic harmony and rapid economic growth. The political, economic, and social rights and freedom of religious belief of all ethnic groups in the region are fully guaranteed. The languages, traditional cultures and customs of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have been preserved and passed on through generations. Twelve radio program in Xinjiang broadcast in Mandarin, Uygur, Kazakh, Kirghiz, and Mongolian. Elementary and secondary schools in Xinjiang offer Uygur, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Mongolian and Xibe language courses to ethnic minority students.

The accusations against China in the aforementioned report are groundless and full of lies. There is no so-called "internment camps" in Xinjiang. The vocational education and training centres set up in Xinjiang in accordance with laws are schools. This is part of the proactive and preventive de-radicalization and counter-terrorism measures aimed at tackling terrorism and religious extremism at the source. It is no different from the Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) of the UK or the de-radicalization centres in France. There is no "forced labor" in Xinjiang, only voluntary employment and free choice in the labor market, and lawful labor rights are protected. As for the use of technological products and big data to improve social governance, this is a common practice of modern countries. It does not target any specific ethnicity and it aims to improve social governance and to prevent and fight crimes.

It must be emphasized that Xinjiang affairs are China's internal affairs that no other country has the right to interfere in. The Chinese people have the say about the human rights situation in China. The development and achievements of human rights in China are there for all to see and have been highly recognized by people from all over the world. The Chinese people do not need the rambling preachers who harbour ulterior political motives and distort the facts. We urge those China-bashers to reflect on the human rights records of their own country and rectify the numerous human rights problems still existing, instead of being the hypocrite all the time and using human rights as a political weapon to smear other countries' internal affairs. We strongly urge the relevant politicians in the UK to respect facts, stop baseless hype and the disinformation campaign against China, stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop causing further disruptions for China-UK relations.