People dance at a square during a culture and tourism festival themed on Dolan and Qiuci culture in Awat County of Aksu Prefecture, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on Friday. The festival kicked off recently in Aksu Prefecture. Photo: Xinhua

Fifty-four countries voiced their support for the counter-terrorism measures taken in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region at a UN conference after the UK and US released a statement of 23 countries criticizing China's policy in Xinjiang. This showed that despite smears and lies from some Western countries, more people are objectively and fairly judging the human rights developments in Xinjiang. 

During a discussion on human rights at the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Belarus made a joint statement on behalf of 54 countries in support of China's policy in Xinjiang. 

The statement "spoke positively of the results of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang and noted that these measures have reversed the security situation in Xinjiang and effectively safeguarded the basic human rights of people of all ethnic groups," according to a release on the website of the Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN.  

At the same conference, the UK permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Karen Pierce, read a joint statement of 23 countries, which accused China of "arbitrary detention" of Uyghur people and "members of other Muslim communities." The 23 countries included the US, many of its allies and some European countries. 

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN, said that the US, UK and some other countries made baseless accusations against China in their statement. 

"This is gross interference in China's internal affairs and a deliberate provocation of confrontation at the UN. China firmly opposes and rejects such practice," the release said.

Contrasting numbers 

This is the latest round for many countries to give contrasting reactions to some Western countries on China's Xinjiang policy. 

In July, more than 50 ambassadors to the UN in Geneva had signed a letter addressed to the president of the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to voice their support for China's governance, as 22 developed countries accusing China's policy in Xinjiang.

"More than 60 countries spoke out in support of China's Xinjiang policy at the UN conference, praised China's achievements on human rights and opposed using 'human rights' as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs. A small number of Western countries' anti-China performance ended up a shameful failure," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a press briefing on Wednesday. 

Qian Jinyu, executive dean of the Human Rights Institution of Northwest University of Political Science and Law in Shaanxi Province, said, "From the contrasting numbers, we can see that more countries support China's Xinjiang policy and gave an objective and fair judgment on Xinjiang's development on human rights. However, Western countries led by the US and UK are using human rights issues or truth-twisting methods for their political purpose." 

Maria Morigi, an Italian author and scholar who visited Xinjiang multiple times, told the Global Times that she saw people of different ethnic groups living in harmony in Xinjiang and did not see "any kind of discrimination." 

During a visit in Turpan city in Xinjiang, she saw bilingualism being practiced in schools, and street signs and notices were written in two languages. 

The negative campaign launched by the US aims to discredit China for "lack of democracy," she said, noting that the measures China has taken in Xinjiang are positive and ensure its residents' security. 

Turkish reporter Erkin Oncan told the Global Times that China has made efforts to protect cultures and languages of ethnic groups living in Xinjiang, and has fought terrorism and extremism. 

As a country which runs Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the US has no right to accuse others, Oncan said.

At the Wednesday press briefing, Geng also noted that China has invited many diplomats, reporters and religious figures to visit Xinjiang. What they saw and heard in Xinjiang was totally different from what Western countries had been saying, Chinese experts said.

Political motive

The US and some Western countries have long been politicizing human rights issues and hype Xinjiang issues, not because they truly care about Xinjiang's people but because they want to contain China, Qian said. 

US has been frequently attacking China's Xinjiang policy recently, attempting to take advantage of others amid trade talks with China, Zhang Yonghe, executive dean of the Human Rights Institution of Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing, said on Friday.

"Together with its allies in the West, the US is trying to tarnish China's image in international arenas. It also wants to use the Xinjiang question to disturb China's domestic development," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations, said on Wednesday.

Li noted that the US, UK and some other Western countries, which used to play the "human rights" card to accuse other countries, are not qualified to set the standards on human rights nor can they force others to accept them. There are more than 200 countries in the UN and the majority's voice should be heard.

The US visa denials to dozens of Russian and Iranian diplomats in September before the UN conference and the Tuesday statement on Xinjiang show that as a developed and civilized country, the US has shifted from a decent and tolerant developed and civilized country to a vile-like character, Li said.
Newspaper headline: Xinjiang wins more support