Officials, researchers denounce British politicians' meddling in Xinjiang affairs

BEIJING -- Officials and researchers in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have lashed out at some anti-China forces in Britain for interfering in Xinjiang affairs.

"The accusations made by some British politicians against Xinjiang are contrary to the facts and ridiculous. They are nothing but gimmicks born out of political manipulation," Xu Guixiang, a spokesperson with the regional government, said at a press conference held in Beijing.

"The stability and development in Xinjiang have long proven them wrong," he said. "Xinjiang has maintained a harmonious and stable social environment, with its people living in peace, and the breeding ground for terrorism and extremism effectively eradicated."

Citing atrocities committed by Britain over hundreds of years of colonial history, Mahmut Abduweli, an associate researcher with the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, asked, "What qualifications do countries like Britain have to preach human rights or point fingers at China's Xinjiang?"

In Britain, ethnic minorities such as people of African and Asian descent are often subjected to racial discrimination, violence or harassment, said Elijan Anayat, a spokesperson with the Xinjiang regional government, adding that racial discrimination is long-lasting and wide-ranging in Britain.

"In Britain, Islamophobia is getting increasingly worse, and anti-Muslim sentiment is also growing. It is common for Muslims to suffer discrimination, and it's difficult for their basic political, economic, cultural and social rights to be guaranteed," said Ramina Shewket, an expert on human rights at Xinjiang University.

The British side should seriously face up to and solve their own problems, instead of blindly discrediting the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang, the expert said.