Xinjiang Photo: IC

China on Wednesday spoke up for itself at a UN panel where attendees repeatedly cited lies and rumors, refuted by China thousands of times, to justify a joint action on alleged human rights violations in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

The Chinese representative pointed out how the Xinjiang issue was used as a political tool to attack China by presenting a short video of a speech from Lawrence Wilkerson, US Army Colonel and former Chief of Staff to the US Secretary of State Colin Powell, in August 2018. 

Wilkerson said that if the CIA wanted to destabilize China, the best way would be to stir up unrest and join with Uygurs in putting pressure on China internally, rather than from outside.

At the Wednesday panel, the Chinese representative pointed out that the accusations against Xinjiang were similar excuses that were used to stir up unrest and start wars in Iraq, Libya and Syria. 

The human rights violation accusation was the lie of the century and has never or will ever happen in Xinjiang. The region held press conferences to show the truth but attendees to the UN panel refused to listen, said the representative. 

Since December 2018, more than 1,200 people from more than 100 countries, including foreign diplomatic envoys and journalists stationed in China, have visited Xinjiang to learn about the real situation.

The region is always open, but we do not accept a so-called investigation under the presumption of guilt branded by the US and Europe, the Chinese representative said as many of the speakers at the panel asked for UN unfettered access to Xinjiang. 

Wednesday's panel was organized by the US, UK and Germany. Attendees included their respective ambassadors to the UN and representatives from some NGOs that were found to be sponsored by or with connections with the US government, such as Human Right Watch. 

Allegations raised by the speakers at the panel included the detention of Uygurs at education and vocational centers and forced sterilization and labor, which China had refuted repeatedly with testimonies from graduated trainees, local residents and population statistics. 

Chinese observers have earlier emphasized how the US and its allies changed strategy when they found they could not instigate a color revolution in the region. The West turned to the global stage to smear China over Xinjiang and push forward economic sanctions in an attempt to strangle the region's economy and sow poverty and unrest.

One speaker at the panel said the issue is not about picking side between China and the US, which exactly exposed the major perpetrator behind the Xinjiang-related coercion against China. 

Apart from the guest speakers, some 10 countries besides China attended the panel, including Canada, Japan and Australia, which have had rocky relations with China recently. 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said on Monday that the US and the few countries it has assembled are abusing the resources and platform of the UN to smear and attack China to serve selfish political interests. This is a shameful travesty of the UN.