US condemned for lies about Xinjiang

China on Wednesday condemned the United States over the latter fabricating lies about the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, saying that Washington has created one lie after another to smear China and mislead the international community.

In response to US State Department spokesman Ned Price's comment on Tuesday that United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet's decision to visit China was a mistake, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that it was the US that pressured the high commissioner to visit Xinjiang and now it was again the US that opposed her visit to China.

"How come the US changes like this? The reason is very simple: They need new lies to hide the old ones," Wang said. "The US is worried that their lies about 'genocide' and 'forced labor' will be debunked in front of the international community."

However, Wang said, the lies the US spreads cannot cover the fact that Xinjiang enjoys stability and prosperity and its people live peaceful and happy lives, and instead, they will reveal the nature of the US attempt to politicize the human rights issue and make it a tool for the purpose of smearing China.

China welcomes the visit of the high commissioner and visits by people from around the world to Xinjiang, the spokesman said, and in the meantime, it opposes the so-called investigation based on the presumption of guilt.

He said that China will provide all necessary help to the high commissioner to facilitate her visit, and all the activities are scheduled in accordance with her intentions and based on full consultation between the two sides.

The visit aims to enhance exchanges and cooperation between the two sides to promote international human rights development, Wang said. "We oppose any attempt to use the visit for the purpose of political manipulation."