US-China Relations Updates

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) — Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin refuted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s remarks on Xinjiang during a regular press conference on May 16. Wang said that the U.S. side’s remarks ignore basic facts, slander China’s national and religious policies, are full of ideological bias, and are extremely absurd and without any bottom line.

When asked about Blinken’s speech on the “2022 International Religious Freedom Report” on May 15, which claimed that China is committing “genocide” against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, Wang responded by saying that the U.S. side’s remarks ignore basic facts, slander China’s national and religious policies, are full of ideological bias, and are extremely absurd and without any bottom line. China categorically rejects and opposes such remarks.

Wang stated that the Chinese government protects citizens’ freedom of religious belief according to law, and all ethnic groups in China enjoy full religious freedom according to law. Currently, there are nearly 200 million religious believers of all kinds in China, with more than 380,000 religious professionals, approximately 5,500 religious groups, and over 140,000 legally registered religious venues. In Xinjiang alone, there are more than 24,000 mosques.

Wang pointed out that the so-called “genocide” in China is a century-long lie fabricated by the United States. In the past 60 years since the founding of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the region’s total economic output has increased by 160 times, the Uyghur population has grown from 2.2 million to around 12 million, and life expectancy has increased from 30 to 74.7 years. Currently, Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic development, ethnic unity, religious harmony, and improved livelihoods.

Wang said that in recent years, more than 2,000 government officials, religious figures, and journalists from over 100 countries and international organizations have visited Xinjiang and highly praised the region’s social stability and prosperous development, and understood and supported Xinjiang’s achievements in counter-terrorism and de-radicalization. Many people of insight in the United States and other countries have told the true story of Xinjiang and made objective and fair voices. The U.S. side ignores these objective facts, repeatedly hyping up lies and fallacies, only to “contain China with Xinjiang” and find excuses to suppress and restrain China. The international community sees this clearly.

“We advise the U.S. side to face and reflect on its own problems, respect facts and truth, stop applying double standards, and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs under the pretext of so-called human rights, religion, and ethnicity. The attempt to contain China’s development with so-called human rights and religious issues is doomed to fail,” Wang said.