Men enjoy their time in a teahouse in Kashi, Xinjiang. Photo: IC

The recent hearing held by a US House of Representatives panel on "atrocities against Uyghurs" was no more than a "clumsy anti-China farce" without any justice or objectivity, condemned Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Friday.

The panel organized a hearing named "the atrocities against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang" on Thursday, in which some so-called "survivors" and US scholars participated. However, those in attendance were either Xinjiang secessionists, self-contradictory "survivor" liars or people full of prejudice against China's Xinjiang policies, Wang pointed out.

"The hearing was a deliberate presumption of guilt and a naked interference in China's internal affairs," Wang remarked.

In order to help American people understand better the real situation in Xinjiang, the Chinese Embassy in the US held an online meeting on May 6, during which Xinjiang authorities and local people, including former trainees at vocational education and training centers, shared with US participants their working and living situations in the region, Wang introduced.

At the meeting titled "Xinjiang is a wonderful land," Chinese ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai refuted Western lies about Xinjiang, such as the groundless "genocide" and "forced labor" accusations, and encouraged the world to learn about the region's real situation.

In the US and other Western countries, lies about Xinjiang still hold sway, (and) systemic slandering and unilateral sanctions against China are rife, Cui said in a video speech he delivered at the meeting. "But lies cannot stand the scrutiny of facts," he noted.

The Uygur population in Xinjiang has grown by over 10 times in the past 40 years, Cui said. Workers in Xinjiang sign labor contracts as a free and equal party, their rights and interests are well protected, and they enjoy full remuneration, he added.

At the online meeting, Alimjan Yusup, a resident in Xinjiang's Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, shared his personal story of learning skills including planting vegetables, raising animals and using computers at a local vocational education and training center. "After graduating, I built 10 greenhouses for vegetables and raised more than 100 sheep, and soon became a 'master of getting rich' in our village," he said.

The "forced labor," "torture" and "no freedom" claims made by some foreign media are all rumors and lies, and they are complete nonsense, he noted. "If I had been tortured, would I still be in such a good health and able to video with you?"

Rumors can indeed pollute the field of international public opinion and cause some negative effects, including misunderstandings, for those who do not know about Xinjiang, Xu Guixiang, spokesperson of the Information Office of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, said at the meeting's Q&A session, in response to a question about the Western world's slanders against Xinjiang.

Nonetheless, it is comforting to see that an increasing number of people have gained a more comprehensive understanding of the real situation in Xinjiang through personally visiting the region, Xu said. 

"Many people have said that, 'once [we] are in Xinjiang, we get to know that what some people in the US and other Western countries say about Xinjiang is nothing but lies,'" Xu said. "The facts speak for themselves." 

Prior to the meeting, China had widely invited US congressmen and their aides to attend, Wang said on Friday. Almost none of those who pay lip service to human rights in Xinjiang showed up, he added, noting it "exposed their hypocrisy and ulterior motives" over Xinjiang-related issues.

"Daring not to face local government officials and people in Xinjiang—who best understand the local situation—they [US anti-China politicians] are only willing to believe in the lies invented by a few institutions and individuals that smear and attack Xinjiang's human rights," Wang said.

[China] hopes the US side will face squarely the objective facts of Xinjiang's development and progress, not be blinded by lies and disinformation fabricated by anti-China forces, said Wang. "[We urge the US to] stop slandering and blackening China's ethnic and religious policies." 

Global Times