Zhao Lijian Photo: VCG

 
It was the US that demanded the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visit China, and then imposed all sorts of conditions and is now criticizing it, said China's Foreign Ministry on Monday when asked for comments on remarks by US secretary of state Antony Blinken that China restricted and manipulated Michelle Bachelet's visit.

"You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, slamming the US' repeated and ridiculous lies and rumors about Xinjiang.

Zhao's response came after the Saturday statement from Blinken, which said the conditions China imposed on the visit did not enable a complete and independent assessment of the human rights environment.

"The activity arrangement during UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's visit was based on her own wishes and the full consultation of the two sides. Bachelet said herself in the press conference that she had extensive unsupervised exchanges during her visit. Where are the restrictions and manipulation?" said the spokesperson.

Zhao said through talks, exchanges and visits, Bachelet has deepened the understanding and recognition of China's human rights development path, and experienced a secure, stable and improving Xinjiang where people live and work in peace and happiness.

Zhao pointed out that the US cares nothing about the human rights situation, but uses it as a pretext to defame, suppress and contain China, urging the UN High Commission for Human Rights to conduct investigations and form a report on the human rights problems in the US.

The US keeps interfering in other countries but turns a blind eye to its own domestic human rights violations, said Zhao, listing the chilling mass shooting at a Texas school and the deep-rooted systematic racial discrimination faced by African and Asian Americans 

Global Times