Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. Photo: VCG

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is intentionally disrupting Chinese cooperation with the UN Human Rights Council, when China has constant communication with its senior officials, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday after the British minister condemned China over Xinjiang and called for the UN to be given "urgent and unfettered" access to the region.

The purpose of visits to Xinjiang is to promote communication and cooperation, not to conduct so-called investigations with the presumption of guilt, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at Wednesday's routine press conference. 

Wang noted that China has sent invitations to the high commissioner of UN Human Rights about a trip to Xinjiang, and the two sides have maintained communication on this and the door of Xinjiang is always open. 

 "We firmly oppose anyone using this topic to conduct political manipulation and coerce China. The UK's call for a resolution by the Council is obviously out of ulterior motives, with the aim to mislead people, discredit China, and undermine cooperation between China and the UN Human Rights Commissioner," Wang said.

China welcomes people from all over the world to take a look at Xinjiang and its residents' happy lives. In recent years, more than 1,200 diplomats, officials of international organizations, journalists, and religious figures from more than 100 countries have visited Xinjiang. They learned about the facts and truths in Xinjiang on the spot, and what they saw and heard in Xinjiang was completely different from what the Western media reported, Wang said.

The UK is abusing the platform of the UN Human Rights Council, spreads false information, attacks and smears China, and interferes in China's internal affairs. China expresses firm opposition and complete rejection to that, the spokesperson said, noting that the UK's political manipulation and double standards cannot deceive the international community. 

The UK is keen to be a teacher on human rights with a blind eye on its own problems. One third of British families with children under 5 are in poverty, the British military slaughtered civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan but the murderers were shielded by the government and racism and xenophobia seriously violates the human rights of immigrants. "We urge it to take actions to improve its own human rights problems and contribute to world human rights cause," Wang noted. 

Global Times