Hua Chunying File photo:CGTN

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on Tuesday, slammed Western sanctions using the excuse of so-called "human rights" in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which are unreasonable and based on lies.

The EU, the UK, Canada and the US have announced sanctions on individuals and entities related to Xinjiang using the excuse of so-called human rights. Foreign ministers of the UK, Canada and the US also issued a joint statement in an attempt to coerce China. 

China firmly condemns the sanctions and has summoned the EU and the UK ambassadors to China, Hua said, noting that China has also lodged serious representations to the US and Canada.

At Chinese Foreign Ministry's routine press conference on Tuesday, Hua said Uygur population has increased from 5.5 million to 12.8 million, while life expectancy has increased from 30 to 72 over the past four decades. Xinjiang residents of all ethnic groups enjoy stability, security, development, which Hua noted was a human rights success.

Some Western politicians do not want to admit those facts and treat fabricated stories as treasure, ignoring that the so-called evidence comes from fake "internal documents", unknown "sources" and distortion of official data.

Hua pointed out they do not care about human rights or truth, they just do not want to see China's development or Chinese people having better lives. They interfere in China's domestic affairs using the excuse of human rights to contain China. 

These countries who proclaimed themselves as preachers on human rights have a terrible record on the issue. They are not qualified to point their fingers at China or blame the country for their vicious deeds, Hua stressed. 

China is about to issue a report on US human rights violations as Washington's failed anti-epidemic efforts in the past year worsened social division, aggravated political chaos and racial discrimination. 

During the 400 years of the African slave trade, 10 million people died en route from Africa to America. Even today, in the US and the UK, African people are facing systematic discrimination in health, employment, education and justice, Hua said. 

German colonists slaughtered native Namibians under its colonial rule in the early 20th century and killed 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, including more than one million children, Hua continued. 

The US, UK and their allies blatantly violated the Geneva Conventions and killed civilians in Afghanistan, committing serious war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

French troops killed 5.5 million people during their colonization of Algeria. 

Canada put assimilation of indigenous Americans on its official agenda in the 1870s and carried out a genocide of their culture. More than 150,000 indigenous children were forcibly sent away to be assimilated at schools and more than 50,000 were tortured to death. 

In response to another question concerning a "report" claiming forced separation of Uygur children from their parents, Hua said the accusations fit the US better than China. 

The US imposed its assimilation policy on native Americans since the early 1800, and its practice included sending them to boarding schools, getting rid of their native names and giving them European names and banning native languages, Hua said.

For Xinjiang, the region is three times the size of France, nearly five times the size of Germany and seven times the size of Britain. The boarding schools are government projects aimed at saving children from having to go a long way to and from school every day. Children can contact their parents at any time, go home during weekends and holidays, and ask for leave during schooldays if necessary, Hua said. 

Many should still remember how the US and the UK, using "detergent" and staged videos as evidence, launched wars against Iraq and Syria and caused numerous deaths of civilians and broken families. More than 350,000 died in the war in Syria alone. Don't they (the US and UK) deserve sanctions? Hua asked.

France, the UK and EU launched the Libya war, which is the reason for the refugee crisis and unrest in the region. Shouldn't those countries be held accountable? Hua asked, adding that those countries not only showed no guilt over their exports of chaos, but also started unilateral sanctions, jeopardizing others' right to life, health and development.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, these most developed countries have let tens of thousands of their citizens die, are hoarding vaccines many times their population numbers and restricted supply to the developing world. Without life, where are human rights? Hua asked.

"We want to ask the West which claims to protect human rights: What are they protecting? Shouldn't they feel ashamed?" Hua noted. 

History and evidence have proven they are not qualified to be "preachers on human rights", and China is not Libya, Syria or the China of 120 years ago. The time when a few cannons could break through China's gate has gone, and the time when certain pseudo-scholars,  media and governments colluded together to  smear China without consequences has gone, Hua said.Hua also urged related countries not to underestimate the Chinese people's determination to safeguard their national interests and dignity. Those countries will pay for their ignorance and arrogance, she added.