China has again urged the US to give an explanation on US officials’ revealed plan of “smearing Xinjiang to contain China,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at Tuesday’s press briefing and urged the US to stop its despicable act of smearing Xinjiang through political manipulation.
Media have reported that in 2021, Sheila Carey, consul and head of the economic/political section of the US Consulate General in Guangzhou, and her colleague Andrew Chira told guests at a cocktail reception that the US government hoped US busi-nesses “could understand” that using the Xinjiang-related issue to hype up the so-called forced labor, genocide and human rights abuses “are an effective means to fight against the Chinese government” and ultimately “get the Chinese government bogged down.”
Zhao at Monday’s press briefing urged the US to give a sound explanation, noting that if the informa-tion is true, then “I’m not surprised. Because this is not the first time that US officials have revealed their thoughts.” So far, the US hasn’t given an explanation.
It has been reported that a guest at the reception admitted on social media that the business people at the reception said privately this practice was crazy and wondered how made-up stories about Xinjiang will bring them any good.
The guest has been to Xinjiang many times and there was no “genocide” or “forced labor” there, confirming that US politicians are full of lies. There was a time when the Chinese were friendly and doing business well until Trump started making things worse, said the guest, Zhao cited media reports as saying.
Media reported that the guest thought President Biden would be quick to correct these mistakes, but nothing much has changed. However, after listening to the consular officer’s remarks, the guest finally realized that they were paying for their dirty and ugly decisions and decided to make it public.
As a famous Chinese saying goes, there is no impermeable wall in the world, Zhao said. The guest’s remarks represent the voice of the vast ma-jority of American businesses who have been co-erced by US political intrigue, Zhao said, noting that this was an international joke.
We have told you that “genocide in Xinjiang” is the lie of the century concocted by US politicians, that some people may not believe that, but people should know how the lie was made, Zhao said.
A reporter raised the question that a spokesper-son for the US Embassy in Beijing said that China should stop attributing false statements to US offi-cials, Zhao replied that what he quoted is not propa-ganda, nor is it made up by the Chinese government, but actual remarks posted on social media platform.
All of us may take a close look at what has been said and decide which is true and which is false and find out which country is the “empire of lies,” Zhao noted.
To a question Zhao said the China-ASEAN Sen-ior Officials’ Consultation, ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) Senior Officials’ Meeting (APT SOM), East Asia Summit Senior Officials’ Meeting (EAS SOM) and ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials’ Meeting (ARF SOM) will be held via videoconference on June 8 and 9. During the meetings, participants will hold discussions on the implementation of the outcomes of leaders’ meetings last year and future development of relevant mechanisms, and exchange views on international and regional issues of mutual interest. Assistant Foreign Minister Wu Jianghao will attend the above-mentioned meetings.
Since the end of 2021, China and ASEAN coun-tries have been actively implementing the outcomes of the Special Summit to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations. Our friendly and cooperative relations have kept deepening. With the smooth entry-into-force and implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, trade among member states has witnessed rapid growth and regional economic integration has made continuous progress. In the meantime, in a world that is still overshadowed by COVID-19 and undergoing profound changes in the international and regional situation, East Asia coop-eration is facing complex and severe challenges.
China hopes the upcoming meetings will help to further pool the consensus among regional countries on solidarity, cooperation and joint response to chal-lenges, stick to the right direction of East Asia co-operation, focus on post-COVID recovery and sus-tainable development, and deepen practical coopera-tion across the board. The meetings are also expected to accumulate outcomes for the series of foreign ministers’ meetings and leaders’ meetings on East Asia cooperation and make greater contribution to regional peace, development and prosperity.
Zhao Lijian: said for the third time, the IAEA Board of Governors Meeting decided by consensus to set up a formal agenda item to discuss “transfer of nuclear materials in the context of AUKUS and its safeguards in all aspects under the NPT” as called for by China. This is a clear indication that the transfer of weapons-grade nuclear materials involved in AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation has drawn close attention and grave concern from the interna-tional community.
As China has stressed repeatedly, AUKUS nu-clear submarine cooperation constitutes severe nuclear proliferation risks, delivers a blow to the international non-proliferation system, exacerbates arms race, and undermines regional peace and sta-bility. The issue of safeguards in the context of AUKUS cooperation has an important bearing on the international non-proliferation system and concerns the interests of all member states. As such, a decision on this matter should be made through discussion by all member states. The US, the UK and Australia should earnestly fulfill their nuclear non-proliferation obligations, support rather than thwart this inter-governmental discussion process, and refrain from conducting nuclear submarine cooperation before parties reach a consensus.
China calls on all member states to support and actively participate in IAEA discussions of AUKUS nuclear submarine cooperation to jointly defend the international non-proliferation system with the NPT as the cornerstone and safeguard world peace and security.
Zhao said, we have noted that the Cambodian side already responded to this. It said that Cambo-dia’s constitution does not permit foreign military bases on Cambodian soil and that the renovation of the base serves solely to strengthen the Cambodian naval capacities to protect its maritime integrity and combat maritime crimes. The US has ignored and maliciously speculated and smeared Cambodia’s position. The US has even threatened and pressured Cambodia. This is typical bullying practice.
China and Cambodia are comprehensive strategic cooperative partners enjoying open, transparent, logical and legitimate cooperation in various sectors. Such cooperation has not only delivered benefits to both countries and peoples, but also set a good example of building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind. In contrast, the US runs more than 800 military bases overseas; its military expenditure is equivalent to the total amount of the nine countries behind it; it was not at war for only 16 years throughout its nearly 250 years of history; it wan-tonly interferes in other countries’ internal affairs and sends military aircraft and warships to flex muscles at other countries’ doorstep. Who on earth is undermining global and regional security and stability and spreading disinformation? Anyone can tell.
Zhao Lijian said I think you should ask the US why it has not yet given any explanation.
I also noted some reports saying that a guest to the close-door cocktail reception held by the US Consulate General in Guangzhou for the business community posted the following on social media platform: “People in the chamber of commerce all believe this is insane in private. How could making up stories about Xinjiang do us any good! I travelled to that place (Xinjiang) and it was beautiful every time. There is nothing like genocide, forced labor thing over there, what we do is just “To lie though one’s teeth”. Things used to be not bad when Chi-nese were nice to us and business went well until Trump changed it. I thought President Biden would make a difference and fix the mistakes soon but nothing obvious changed. When I heard what the consulates said I finally got it. Now we are paying for their dirty and ugly decisions. I am so angry and I have tell the public.”
As a Chinese saying goes, “No wall is com-pletely windtight” (meaning no secret can be kept forever). Those words actually reflect the shared voice of the business community who are coerced by the political plot of the US government. What an embarrassing revelation for the US! You probably did not believe us when we said before that genocide in Xinjiang is a “lie of the century” made up by the US. Now you can see how this lie came about. We once again ask the US to give an explanation, stop its despicable moves of smearing Xinjiang with political manipulation.—GT
