Performers dance during the Dragon Boat Festival at an intangible cultural heritage exhibition park in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
BEIJING, Sept. 23 -- China has lodged stern representations and expressed firm opposition over the passage of a Xinjiang-related bill by the United States House of Representatives, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks while answering relevant questions at a routine press conference.
Neglecting China's stern position and the facts, the U.S. House of Representatives insistently reviewed and adopted the Xinjiang-related bill, which maliciously smears the human rights situation in Xinjiang, hypes up the non-existent "forced labor" and threatens to sanction Chinese entities and individuals, Wang said.
Conveying strong dissatisfaction, the spokesperson said Xinjiang affairs are purely China's internal affairs, and the U.S. is in no position and has no right to interfere.
The issue of "forced labor" is a lie made by some institutions and people of the U.S. and some Western countries. China's State Council Information Office recently released a white paper, titled "Employment and Labor Rights in Xinjiang," which has an accurate record of the facts in Xinjiang, including the fact that labor and employment policies enacted by the local governments have effectively safeguarded the local people's basic right to employment, Wang said.
"If those in the U.S. truly care for employment and labor rights in Xinjiang, they should take a good look at this white paper," Wang said.
Some in the U.S. talk a lot about "caring for" ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, however, they clearly ignore the major efforts made by the region's local governments to protect human rights and secure employment, Wang said.
They hype up so-called "forced labor" and suppress companies in Xinjiang under such a pretext, which reveals their hypocrisy and hidden intention to contain Xinjiang's growth, sow discord between ethnic groups in China, meddle in China's internal affairs and seek selfish, political gains by playing the China card. However, their despicable attempts will never succeed, Wang said.
"We urge the U.S. side to grasp the facts and the situation, immediately stop hyping up so-called 'forced labor', stop interfering in China's affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang and obstructing China's development, and stop further reviewing and implementing this Xinjiang-related bill," Wang said.
"China will continue taking all necessary measures to safeguard Chinese companies' legitimate rights and interests and defend our national sovereignty, security and development interests," he added.
