Photo: GT
Diplomats, regional officials, family members of terror attack victims and regional and foreign scholars attended a press conference held jointly by the Xinjiang regional government and Chinese Embassy to the UK recently to expose lies and refute rumors made by anti-China forces on the region.
More than five years ago, many people in Xinjiang worried that terrorist attacks may occur at any time, with the region suffering from a history of attacks. But currently, all people in the Xinjiang region are living happy and stable lives and are confident about the future, Yang Xiaoguang, Minister of the Chinese Embassy to the UK said at the online press conference on December 29.
Yang noted that in 2020, Xinjiang welcomed 158 million tourists which means thousands of people had witnessed the development of the region with their own eyes and the moments they recorded in Xinjiang on their cameras showed that accusations made by anti-China forces are groundless.
"There is no genocide in Xinjiang… There is no forced labor in the region," Yang said, noting that the population of Uygurs increased 3.23 times over the past seven decades.
Echoed with the Chinese envoy, Graham Perry, a British solicitor and international arbitrator who also attended the online press conference said that there is no "oppression" of Uygurs in Xinjiang, nor is there any genocide.
The West is making a big story and some anti-China forces in the US and the West are using it to smear China, Perry said, noting that the reason may be that the West cannot accept Chinas rise.
Recently, the "Uyghur Tribunal" - a pseudo-court that was held in London by anti-China forces and terrorist organization, the World Uyghur Congress, made so-called final judgement and claimed that Chinas Xinjiang region was a site to "genocide." Such a "verdict" which was made by the "tribunal" - neither a legitimate legal body nor has the right to review accusations of genocide against a country, was derided by international and Chinese experts.
The notorious "Uyghur Tribunal" maliciously attempted to label Chinas counter-terrorism measures in Xinjiang region as "genocide," which is a false accusation, and 25 million people in the Xinjiang region firmly opposed and condemned such behavior, Xu Guixiang, a spokesperson from the Xinjiang regional government, told the press conference.
By accusing China for committing "genocide," anti-China forces in the US and the West and the "World Uyghur Congress" want to incite hatred among ethnic groups, disturb affairs in Xinjiang, impose sanction to the region and force it to go back to the period when terrorist attacks happened occasionally, and finally split the Xinjiang region from China, Xu noted.
During the press conference, Resharat Memtnur, sister of the so-called witness Rehimgul Memtnur to the "tribunal," exposed the lies spread by the body.
The so-called witness and victim Rehimgul said during the hearing of the "tribunal" that she worked in a hospital in Xinjiang and that she saw women were forced to have abortion and nearly 100 women every day were forcibly sterilized.
"I want to ask my sister that we have lived together for several decades. How could I not know that you worked in hospital? After quitting from the university in 1998 for health reason, you never went to school again nor studied medicine. Why do you lie to people?" Resharat said during the press conference.
Resharat explained that her sister once opened a pharmacy which only allowed to sell over-the-counter medicines but that she was never a qualified medical practitioner.
"Sister, what you did left the whole family heartbroken. You secretly sold the house and went abroad and did not tell anyone in the family… When our older brother found out, he was so upset and fell ill… I want to tell you, sister, do not swindle others and stop speaking nonsense!" said Resharat.
Envoys, experts and officials from the Xinjiang regional also answered questions from British media.
Responding to whether the UN delegation is allowed to visit Xinjiang without any limitations, Xu Guixiang, the spokesperson of the regional government, said that Xinjiang has always been sincere and welcoming to visits from the international community .
However, some people and countries have hesitated to come, Xu said, noting that "We dont know what they are worried about? Are they worried about that their bias would be refuted during the visit? Or do they fear to see the truth of Xinjiang?"
"Our principles are also firm and clear that no one who come to Xinjiang should interfere with our domestic affairs nor should they make presumption of guilt," Xu stated.