Residents have fun in the ancient city of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sep 20, 2020. Photo:Xinhua

The COVID-19 prevention measures in China's Xinjiang region are not discriminating against any ethnic group, and European Parliament is spreading disinformation to smear China's policies on ethnic groups, which not only interferes with China's internal affairs but also goes against the common sense and the norms of international relations, Xu Guixiang, Xinjiang regional spokesperson, told a press conference on Friday.

The Xinjiang regional government held the 81st press conference on Friday in Beijing and regional officials, religious leaders and local representatives refuted recent disinformation related to the region.

In response to the European Parliament's accusation that Uygurs have been "systematically oppressed" by prevention measures, Xu said that such a claim is very ridiculous.

Since August, the Xinjiang region has been hit by the epidemic which impacted local residents' life and health. To fight with this round of epidemic, the Xinjiang regional government has worked to facilitate logistics, promote stability of the industrial chain and ensure local residents' daily life.

Xu also briefed the press conference about the sister of Rushan Abbas, leader of the so-called Campaign for Uyghurs.

Rushan Abbas has colluded with a group in Canada to make the "documentary" In Search of My Sister, in which made-up disinformation helps anti-China forces in smearing the Xinjiang region, Xu said.

Rushan Abbas's sister Gulshan Abbas was sentenced to 20 years in prison in March 2019 for taking part in terrorist organizations, being engaged in terrorist activities and ganging up with others to disturb social orders. She is in prison with all her legal rights being fully protected, Xu explained.

China is a country ruled by laws and any criminal should be punished according to those laws. The sentence of Rushan Abbas's sister can stand the test of truth and history, said Xu, noting that Rushan Abbas' current hyping of her sister's case aims to attract attention and such farce is not worth noting.

On December 24, US President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act into law, which hyped China threats.

Xu said that in order to find an excuse to increase their defense budget to maintain their hegemony, the US accused China of human rights violations in its Xinjiang region and interfered with China's domestic affairs. The US has used human rights as excuses to severely impact the interests of residents in the Xinjiang region.

In recent years, nearly 100 countries including Arab countries have openly supported China's policies in the Xinjiang region and opposed using Xinjiang to interfere with China's internal affairs, Xu said. In October, the 51st session of the Human Rights Council voted down a US-led draft decision on Xinjiang.

During the Friday press conference, Elijan Anayat, another spokesperson of the Xinjiang regional government also refuted the so-called Xinjiang police files.

Notorious rumor monger Adrian Zenz from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation released some files in May and claimed these images were obtained by hacking into Xinjiang police databases and showed how ethnic groups were treated in the vocational and education centers.

The so-called Xinjiang police files are full of disinformation. For example, the files contain 2,884 images of local residents and claimed these are "victims of the camps." However, local police have identified the people in these images and found most of them are living a normal life, said Elijan.

Nurgul Abudrkmu, whose image was contained in the "Xinjiang police files," attended the Friday conference via video link and said that after graduating from a vocational college in June 2022, she has been working in the People's Hospital in Shufu county and she has never been detained.

Nurgul said she felt angry to see her image being used by anti-China forces and required separatists to stop smearing the Xinjiang region.