The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and Canada have engaged in political manipulation to destabilise China, a spokesperson for the regional government of China's Xinjiang region said.
Deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Xinjiang Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xu Guixiang, slammed the policy of the US and its allies on Monday, as well as the sanctions announced by the Western nations over the alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Xu Guixiang rejected accusations of “genocide” in the region.
"They have lost their minds and their conscience, they are enthusiastic about political manipulation and the abuse of sanctions, to a level that is hysterical," said Xu at a press briefing on Xinjiang-related issues held by China's Foreign Ministry.
The US, European Union, UK, and Canada announced sanctions on several Chinese officials on 22 March over the situation in Xinjiang. The sanctions followed allegations of human rights violations against the region’s Uyghur Muslims, with purported abuses ranging from forced labour to mass detention in internment camps, and restrictions on religious freedoms.
China has repeatedly rejected those allegations. Beijing stresses that Uyghurs attend vocational education and training centres as part of a de-radicalisation programme seeking to integrate them into society.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the United Nations Human Rights Council in February that “there has never has been so-called genocide, forced labour or religious oppression in Xinjiang”.
