It’s noted that on May 20, News24 website reprinted the AFP report entitled “Uighur plight: Forced sterilisation and Xinjiang's shrinking population”.
The Chinese Embassy in SA expresses strong objection and firm opposition to this report, which is full of fabrications and data manipulation, grossly distorting Xinjiang's population policies and achievements, spreading lies of the century as "forced sterilisation" and "genocide".
First, there has never been so-called “forced sterilisation" against women in Xinjiang. China has been enacting a family planning policy since 1982.
It was rolled out in an orderly fashion starting with inland regions, urban areas and the ethnic Han group, then moving to border regions, rural areas and ethnic minorities.
This policy reached ethnic minorities in Xinjiang 17 years later than its implementation among the Han population, and it is still relatively lenient compared with inland regions.
Xinjiang never formulated or implemented family planning policies targeting any single ethnic minority. The so-called birth rate goals are simply non-existent.
According to data from China Health Statistics Yearbook 2019, published by the National Health Commission, the number of new IUD insertion procedures in Xinjiang in 2018 came in at 328,475, accounting for only 8.7 percent of China's total, which was 3,774,318.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute(ASPI), Adrian Zenz and the like, fabricated anti-China narratives by concocting data, distorting facts and deliberately blurring the line between subjective presumption and actual evidence and between propaganda and academic research.
Here is a typical example. Adrian Zenz used a chart in his "work" which shows that "new IUD placements per capita" in Xinjiang range from 800 to 1400, which means that every female in Xinjiang would need to receive 4 to 8 placement operations per day.
The “work” is utterly ridiculous. We hope people will have a discerning eye and see the truth behind all these rumour makers and spreaders.
The genocide allegation maligns China's ethnic policy and Xinjiang’s development and progress.
China is a unified multi-ethnic country where the rights and interests of all ethnic minority groups are fully protected according to the Constitution and the regional ethnic autonomy arrangement.
From 2010 to 2018, the Uyghur population had risen from 10,171,500 to 12,718,400, which is an increase of 2,546,900 or 25.04%.
This increment is not only higher than the 13.99% increase of Xinjiang’s entire population, but also higher than the average 22.14% increase in the ethnic minorities population. It is also much higher than the 2% increase of Xinjiang’s ethnic Han population. Their life expectancy rose from 30 years six decades ago to 72 years nowadays. Has anyone seen this kind of "genocide"?
Qelbinur Sedik, a Uyghur woman mentioned in the report, is just another "actor" trained by the West to cooperate with the rumours.
As is pointed out in a recent article titled "Things to Know about All the Lies on Xinjiang: How Have They Come About?" on Chinese media, the anti-China forces in the US and the West seem to have developed a routine for manufacturing and peddling lies and rumours to attack China.
First, rumours are packaged as information leaked by "scholars" and "victims", which are then hyped up by media, and followed by official intervention. Sedik's performance is just another such "farce".
The US-staged play smearing China's Xinjiang out of sinister intentions has been repeatedly debunked by righteous people.
US independent news website The Greyzone published an article exposing how anti-China "scholar" Adrian Zenz has fabricated the centenary lie of "genocide" in Xinjiang through data abuse, information distortion and false witness account.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, the Australian Citizens Party's weekly publication The Australian Alert Service, and Brazil's Estado de Minas and many other media ran reports and articles to show the effective counter-terrorism work in Xinjiang and expose the double standard on fighting terrorism held by Western countries including the US and their geopolitical conspiracy to use Xinjiang to contain China.
The Singapore-based Lianhe Zaobao, the website Project Syndicate, the Sweden-based Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research and the US independent website Counterpunch published articles or released reports to point out that the US claim of "forced labor" and "genocide" in Xinjiang is totally groundless.
A recently-released feature report by former mayor of Frogn municipality in Norway, "The Xinjiang Genocide Determination As Agenda", laid bare the lack of objectivity, verity and integrity of a report alleging genocide in Xinjiang by US think tanks.
Another example, French author Maxime Vivas in his book "Uyghurs: To Put an End to Fake News" proved that all sorts of lies and rumors on Xinjiang are baseless with his own two trips there.
Rumours stop with the wise and justice will prevail. Telling and spreading the truth is the duty and professional ethics of any reputable media organization.
South African media are welcome to report on and present a true and objective picture of China, and we are firmly opposed to any form of disinformation.
In order to facilitate the South African media and the people, the Embassy hereby attached the links of articles published by Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research and Counterpunch for your reference.
https://transnational.live/2021/04/27/%F0%9F%9F%A5-breaking-the-xinjiang-genocide-determination-as-agenda/
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/04/23/reflections-on-genocide-as-the-ultimate-crime/
*Written by the Chinese Embassy in SA.
**The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of IOL.