China Criticizes US Foreign Minister's Speech On The Suffering Of Uighurs In Xinjiang

Illustration - The busyness of residents and the community at the Grand Bazaar night market in the center of Urumqi City, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. (ANTARA/M. Irfan Ilmie) (ANTARA/M. Irfan Ilmie)

JAKARTA - Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin criticized the congratulations on fasting from the United States Secretary of State Anthony J. Blinken who offended Uighurs in Xinjiang.

"Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic growth, and harmony between regions. Human rights (HAM) of Uighurs and other ethnic groups there are fully protected," Wang Wenbin said when delivering information to the media in Beijing, China.

On Tuesday (12/3), Foreign Minister Blinken said in an official statement "I would like to wish Ramadan Kareem more than 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide. This year, a peaceful month comes amid the conflict and suffering experienced by many Muslim communities, including Uighurs in Xinjiang, Rohingya in Burma and Bangladesh, as well as Palestinians in Gaza."

"In Gaza, not in Xinjiang, which is suffering from conflict. Millions of Muslims in Gaza, not Muslims in Xinjiang, who suffer from hunger, forced transfer and murder," added Wang Wenbin.

The US, according to Wang Wenbin, needs to abandon double standards on human rights issues and stop being political about humanitarian issues in Gaza, in particular blocking efforts by the UN Security Council to carry out a ceasefire in Gaza.

"What the US needs to do is not issue a hypocritical statement about Ramadan with empty words, but take concrete action to save the lives of Muslims in Gaza," said Wang Wenbin.

Foreign Minister Blinken said in a follow-up to his statement that the US was distributing additional aid to Gaza, and would also continue to work relentlessly to realize an immediate and ongoing ceasefire for at least six weeks as part of the deal to release hostages.

The US will also continue to seek a two-state solution to ensure Palestinians and Israelis gain equal freedom, dignity, security, and prosperity.

Xinjiang is an autonomous region in southwest China that has quite a large ethnic minority. Based on the October 2020 census, Xinjiang's population reached 25.85 million people with Han's majority tribe reaching 42.4 percent, while other ethnic minorities such as Uighurs, Kazakhs and other ethnicities reached 57.76 percent. Of that number, ethnic Uighurs reached 44.96 percent.

The Uighur Xinjiang autonomous region has a history of terrorism when in 2014 a number of Uighur terrorists stabbed 150 people at a train station in Kunming.

About two years later, detention centers began to be created in Xinjiang. People suspected of being involved in radical groups were taken to detention centers called the Chinese government as vocational training centers.

In 2022, a report from the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) cited the possibility of "crime against humanity", for discriminatory detention by the Chinese Government against members of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Uigur is one of the minority tribes in China that has its own language and has a causoidal physical posture, typical of the Central Asian tribe.

Beijing dismissed the allegations, calling them "disinformation and lies created by anti-Chinese forces", including in the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council (HAM) on January 23, 2024.

China announced it would implement 30 new steps to maintain human rights that include the fields of public welfare, legal protection, international cooperation, and other efforts related to the UN human rights mechanism.