BEIJING, May 29 -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday expressed China's strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the passing of a bill on Xinjiang-related issues by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The so-called "Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020" smeared and criticized the human rights situation in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and China's Xinjiang policies, slandered China's efforts in counter-terrorism and de-radicalization, flagrantly interfered in China's internal affairs. China deplores and firmly opposes that, Zhao said.
"Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights, ethnicity or religion, but about fighting violence, terrorism and separatism," said the spokesperson.
He said a series of measures taken in Xinjiang by the Chinese government have been endorsed by residents of various ethnic groups there and commended by the international community.
The U.S. accusations on Xinjiang-related issues are entirely against objective facts and the basic norms governing international relations, which further reveals America's double standards on counter-terrorism and further exposes its malicious intentions to interfere in China's internal affairs, according to the spokesperson.
Zhao said the Xinjiang affairs are purely China's domestic affairs that allow no foreign interference. "We urge the United States to correct its mistakes immediately, stop using Xinjiang-related issues to interfere in China's internal affairs and not to go further down the wrong path."