EU barking up the wrong tree: China Daily editorial

It is reported that the European Union is considering imposing sanctions against Chinese officials for so-called human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. If it presses ahead with the sanctions, then it can expect countermeasures.

The sanctions represent interference in China's internal affairs, which is something China will never accept.

It is always puzzling how willing politicians in Western countries are to accept whatever those who hate China say. It seems as if they lose all their critical faculties when it comes to issues relating to China.

China has done nothing wrong in its fight against extremism, terrorism and separatism in Xinjiang. What China has done is no different from what Western countries did in their fight against extremist forces and terrorism. The claims of genocide and forced labor are politically motivated to disadvantage China. It would be impossible for China to maintain its northwestern autonomous region's political and social stability by doing such things.

Those raising accusations of so-called human rights abuses in Xinjiang are Uygur separatists. Insisting that Xinjiang be an "independent country", of course they speak ill of China and what it is doing in the autonomous region.

When it comes to the Western countries' concern for the issue of Xinjiang, China does not suffer fools gladly.

As for the sanctions they inflict on Chinese officials or entities, China will never back down and it will do whatever it considers appropriate to retaliate.

There may be misunderstandings or even differences or lack of knowledge about the truth because of the untruthful or biased reports by some Western media.

If politicians in the EU or the United States are willing to know about how China has successfully cracked down on terrorism, extremism and separatism in Xinjiang and how it has helped local residents of different ethnic groups improve their livelihoods, they are welcome to come to see for themselves.

It would be unacceptable for the EU to link so-called human rights issues with the investment treaty that the two sides concluded their negotiations on in December. The deal is in the interests of both sides and politicizing a deal that has taken years for both sides to agree on will only deal a heavy blow to the otherwise amicable bilateral relations. No wonder China's Ambassador to the EU Zhang Ming has urged it "to think twice".

China always insists that differences should be solved through talks. Dialogue is always better than confrontation. But if the EU chooses sanctions, China will have no other choice but to take countermeasures.