US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Photo: IC

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday announced visa restrictions on Chinese government officials "believed to be responsible for so-called suppression of Muslim ethnic minority groups" in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Family members of those officials could also be subject to the restrictions. 

Also using Xinjiang as an excuse, the US Department of Commerce on Monday blacklisted 28 Chinese entities. 

Pompeo has veneered US moves with beautiful rhetoric, portraying the US as sparing no efforts in protecting the human rights of Muslims in China's Xinjiang. This is the most shameful performance in the world. 

Almost everybody knows that US policy always regards Muslims as heretics - US President Donald Trump issued the infamous Muslim travel ban soon after he took office. The border wall that the Trump administration promotes has showcased the country's real attitude toward minority groups. How could they really care about the rights of Muslims living far away in Xinjiang?

US government's moves concerning Xinjiang are going against the betterment of the situation in Xinjiang as well as vital development and prosperity in the region. This shows that adding more Chinese entities to the blacklist and visa restrictions on Chinese officials are obviously geopolitical moves by the US. 

Xinjiang has made remarkable progress, with people enjoying human rights based on peace and stability. Having been through severe terrorist and extremist activities, Xinjiang has successfully protected the lives of numerous people and peace has returned to the region. It has avoided the fate of becoming another Chechnya.

Xinjiang is part of China. The interests of 1.4 billion Chinese people, including those living in Xinjiang, are the overriding standard to judge right and wrong in Xinjiang. The US standpoint is too twisted and ideological, but US elites like Pompeo are passing it off as the central idea on the Xinjiang issue. The Chinese people won't allow them to judge Xinjiang affairs with American interests.

To undermine Xinjiang's stability, certain US politicians like Pompeo even take terrorism and extremism as political resources that they can use. They make efforts to deny the goal of China's battle against terrorism and extremism in Xinjiang, and label governance in the region as a "crackdown on Muslims' rights." They, joining hands with other Western public opinion elites, are launching public opinion warfare against Xinjiang and are confusing right and wrong.

Most Westerners have never been to Xinjiang. They are prone to misguidance by public opinion and are likely to misunderstand Xinjiang. In addition, with powerful propaganda machines, the US and the West have established a closed public opinion sphere, misleading some people to believe that it is the mainstream opinion of the international community.

But the world has already changed. A huge world is emerging outside the US and the West. It is way bigger than the West and has diverse and urgent development missions. Its governance has received wide support.

The US is keen on promoting Western political system across the world. It might have the calculation that many developing countries are unable to manage Western politics and will stand at the edge of the US-centered world forever.

Xinjiang has taken on an entirely new look. Its socio-economic development, including the tourism industry is growing. It's not hard for every single person to understand how important it is for human rights and welfare to make a turbulent place become peaceful and prosperous. Only malice and prejudice can make people turn a blind eye to such a powerful fact.

The so-called sanctions imposed by the US on the entities and personnel concerning Xinjiang will have little effect. This is because the US cannot manipulate the entire world, and because its acts run counter to justice and human rights.