Photo: Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland

The national security law for Hong Kong is a milestone for China's "one country, two systems" and the joint statement made by Cuba on behalf of 53 countries in support of the law shows that pursuit of justice is deep in people's heart, Ambassador Chen Xu, China's Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva, Switzerland, told UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday. 

Ambassador Chen made the remarks at the 44th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) after UK's ambassador on behalf of 27 countries urged the Chinese government to reconsider the national security law for Hong Kong and have made distorted, inappropriate remarks on China's policies in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

China has explained the situation in Xinjiang many times at the 44th session. Xinjiang issues are not about human rights nor ethnic or religious affairs. They are about anti-terrorism and anti-separatism. China has taken effective measures to ensure all ethnic groups in Xinjiang enjoy human rights in a stable and peaceful environment. And these measures have been widely recognized by the international community, Ambassador Chen said. 

Some countries have attempted to politicize the situation in Hong Kong and Xinjiang with groundless, uninformed accusations against China, Chen said, noting that these countries face serious human rights problems of their own, including systematic racism and racial discrimination, xenophobia, police brutality and abuse of immigrants.

"We urge these countries to pay attention to these human rights problems, stop adopting double standards and stop politicizing the Human Rights Council. Their attempt to interfere with other countries' domestic affairs is doomed to fail," Chen said.