Question: Some Scottish columnist said the Holocaust Memorial Day would be“the perfect time”for the UK government to recognize China’s treatment of its Uygur population as “genocide”. What is your comment on this?

Spokesperson: The allegation of “genocide” in Xinjiang is ludicrous and baseless. It's an outright ill-intentioned rumor and lie. The Chinese side firmly opposes this.

The Xinjiang-related issues are in nature counter-violent terrorism, de-radicalisation and anti-separatism. In the face of severe terrorist threats, Xinjiang has adopted a series of resolute and effective counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures. As a result, the region has moved from chaos to stability and order. No terrorist cases has been reported for five consecutive years. With people’s long-term aspiration for stability fulfilled, Xinjiang is now enjoying the best period of prosperity and development in history. The whole region has been lifted out of poverty. In 2021, Xinjiang registered a GDP growth rate of 7%. People’s life expectancy has risen from 30 to 74.7. The population of Uygurs increased from 3.61 million in 1953 to 11.62 million in 2020. People of all ethnic groups in the region fully enjoy the rights to life and development. The spoken and written languages, traditional cultures and customs of all ethnic groups are well protected and carried forward. In fact, nearly a hundred countries expressed support of China's justified position on Xinjiang-related matters through joint or separate statements at the regular sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly Third Committee last year. However, the Western media seems to have deliberately ignored all these.  

If someone throws enough mud, some of it will stick. That said, a lie repeated a thousand times will never become truth. We hope relevant media can, while observing and commenting China's affairs, always rely on facts instead of just listening to one side of the story, let alone spreading misinformation.