A U.S. official's remarks on Xinjiang are pure slanders in total disregard of facts, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday, urging the U.S. side to stop applying double standards on counter-terrorism and making groundless accusations against China under this pretext.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that China's campaign in the western Chinese region Xinjiang was an attempt to "erase its own citizens' Muslim faith and culture," rather than about terrorism.
He made the comments after meeting with the foreign ministers of five Central Asian countries in New York ahead of the United Nations General Assembly this week.
The U.S. side also pledged to continue to raise concerns about the human rights crisis in Xinjiang, according to Reuters.
China's preventive counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang have "gained endorsement and support from people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang," said spokesperson Hua Chunying.
For almost two decades, violent terrorism wreaked havoc in Xinjiang, she said.
According to Hua, there was an attack every day on average at its worst. Innocent lives were lost, including people from the Uighur ethnic group.
After such measures — the development of vocational education and training centers — were taken, Xinjiang has not seen a single violent terrorist attack in three consecutive years, said Hua, and the right to subsistence and development of nearly 25 million residents of all ethnic groups in the region has been most effectively guaranteed.
"These are plain facts that cannot be denied," said Hua, who added that all foreign visitors to the region recognized and spoke positively about the measures.
"We urge the relevant U.S. official to face facts honestly with basic objectivity and impartiality," Hua said.
