US visa restrictions and bans for Chinese companies violate international law and interfere in the internal affairs of the state, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said.
Earlier, the United States imposed visa restrictions on members of the government and the Communist Party of China, who, according to Washington, were involved in violations of the rights of Uyghurs and other national minorities.
“Xinjiang affairs are purely China’s internal affairs that allow no foreign interference. We urge the US to correct its mistakes at once and stop its interference in China’s internal affairs”, – according to a statement on the Embassy’s Twitter page.
The diplomatic mission noted that “in Xinjiang there is no so-called human rights problem claimed by the United States”, and the accusations by the United States are “just made-up pretexts for interference”.
The counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang are aimed to eradicate the breeding soil of extremism and terrorism. They are in line with Chinese laws and international practices,and are supported by all 25 million people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang.3/4
— Chinese Embassy in US (@ChineseEmbinUS) October 8, 2019
The United States regularly criticizes China for violating human rights and religion in the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region, where Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and a number of other Islamic peoples live. Over the past two days, the United States has banned the export of American goods to 28 Chinese companies, and has also imposed visa restrictions on members of the Chinese government and the Communist Party, which, according to Washington, are involved in the repression.
At the end of August 2018, experts of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in a published report said that up to a million ethnic Uyghurs could be in “re-education camps” in the Xinjiang-Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Commenting on this situation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the information on the content of the Uyghurs in the “re-education camps” is not confirmed by anything and does not correspond to reality.
Chinese authorities claim that a system of “vocational education institutions” has been established in the area, with the main emphasis on teaching a common language, the provisions of the law, and professional skills. According to the Chinese side, these centers are working to strengthen “resistance to terrorism and extremism,” as well as de-extremization.