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Xinjiang government accuses US of lying as part of cold-war propaganda offensive against China

THE government of China’s Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region has once again accused the United States of lying about “mass violations of human rights” in order to interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.

Spokesman Xu Guixiang said on Monday that the claims were intended to “frame China” as part of a cold-war strategy to turn public opinion against Beijing.

He was speaking at a press conference in the Chinese capital along with others from the region, who gave evidence that ran counter to the Washington propaganda offensive.

The US embassy recently claimed on social media that a “100-year-old” plaque had been removed from the Id Kah mosque in Kashgar as a result of “the Chinese government’s suppression of Islam in Xinjiang.”

But the mosque’s imam, Memet Jume, showed photographs of the plaque in the main prayer hall, where it has been temporarily placed while repair work is done on the building’s entrance.

Washington has consistently peddled claims that between one and three million Muslims are being held in concentration camps and that China is carrying out a genocide of the Uighur people.

It has presented no credible evidence to support its assertions, which have been rejected by Beijing and a large number of Muslim-majority countries.

Instead, the US campaign relies on “research” by discredited Christian fundamentalist Adrian Zenz, who believes he is on a mission from God to save the world from the Chinese Communist Party.

China insists that it operates re-education facilities offering deradicalisation programmes to people formerly involved with the al-Qaida-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement.

The movement has been responsible for thousands of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and sent a brigade to fight alongside jihadists in Syria.

More recently, Uighur militants were said to be behind a bomb attack in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, the US removed the group from its terror list in October 2020. 

Due to Beijing’s anti-terrorism efforts, Xinjiang has not suffered an attack for at least four years.

“The international community has not been deceived by the cliches spread by a few countries,” Mr Xu said.

Nearly 100 countries provide “a rational voice” on Xinjiang, he added, with 65 UN member states signing a statement in support of China delivered to the world body’s Human Rights Council last week.

A 2019 visit by the UN counterintelligence chief, which Washington opposed, found no evidence of mass human rights abuses or genocide.

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