Photo: VCG

File Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia April 29, 2018. (Photo:Xinhua)

It seems hatred of China has blinded some US officials. US Vice President Mike Pence accused China of "oppressing religion" during the so-called Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom on Thursday. However, Pence also said "there were less than half a million Chinese Christians" when the Communist Party of China took power, but today there are "as many as 130 million Chinese Christians." He was using his own evidence to attack his malicious accusation of China's religious policy.

This meeting was held by the US State Department, and it was aimed at China. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attacked China's governance in Xinjiang, calling China's treatment of Uyghur people the "stain of the century."

Making up stories about China's governance in Xinjiang is the biggest lie of the West in the 21st century. It reflects deep-rooted Western prejudice, and the US government's act has worsened the stain.

Some Western people don't understand that Xinjiang was once haunted by terrorism and extremism. They also refuse to understand how Xinjiang has rebuilt peace and order. They only compared Xinjiang's situation with Western governance and values, but forgot China's governance of Xinjiang has restored peace and stability that best guarantee the rights of people.

Though ordinary Americans' misunderstanding of Xinjiang is understandable, US officials, with this intelligence apparatus to gather information, were feigning ignorance and creating antagonism. They want to annihilate political diversity in the world.

The governments of 37 countries sent a joint letter to the UN in response to such Western accusations. Pence claimed China will eliminate Islam, but Islamic countries did not agree. More than 10 of the 37 countries are Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, the most influential country in the Islamic world.

Pompeo threatened countries which refused to attend the US religious event, saying that the US took note of their absence. The US used religion as a geopolitical tool, which is despised by the international community.

The core members of the current US administration are hostile to China. US ideological attacks on China reflect Washington's new strategy of turning Beijing into a rival. The world knows that.

Chinese people enjoy freedom of religious beliefs. People can choose their religious belief, and their legitimate rights are protected. Every Chinese city has mosques and halal restaurants to respect Muslim beliefs and habits. The Chinese government only cracks down on heresy. Chinese Christians could not have increased a hundredfold if China cracked down on Christianity.

The US tries to use the religious issue to mess up China's governance. But Washington elite never think that if the huge country is messed up, what risks would the 1.4 billion Chinese people face and the serious humanitarian disaster it would create.

China's human rights cannot advance without peace and development. Pence and Pompeo are talking nonsense. The international society is much smarter than what they think.