US human rights allegations aimed at hiding its own failures

It's not surprising that some Western politicians and media outlets have been using every opportunity, even the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, to spread rumors about China's human rights record, as it is a convenient way of diverting public attention from their own countries' failures on multiple fronts, including the economy and public health.

Facts prove that their baseless accusations of so-called genocide of the Uygur ethnic group are nothing but a lie, a vicious attack against China. According to official statistics, the Uygur population grew from 10.17 million in 2010 to 12.72 million in 2018, a huge increase compared with 3 million in 1953.

The growing Uygur population is testament to China's fair and nonpartisan policies for all ethnic groups, and sincere efforts to promote equitable socioeconomic development across the country.

The census data showed Uygurs accounted for 44.96 percent of the total population in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in 2020, while Hans comprised 42.24 percent and other ethnic minority groups 12.8 percent. And in the four southern Xinjiang prefectures of Kashgar, Hotan, Aksu and Kizilsu Kirgiz, the Uygurs made up 83.74 percent of the local population.

In addition, the number of Uygurs with a bachelor's degree reached 8,944 per 100,000 in 2020, an increase of 6,540 from 2000. And on average Uygurs aged 15 or above received 9.19 years of school education in 2020, compared with 7.06 years in 2000.

These facts show the "genocide" allegations are nothing but a lie－a result of the ideological prejudice of some Western politicians and media. In fact, all ethnic minority groups, including the Uygurs, in China have objected to such groundless Western allegations.

It's time these politicians and media reflected on their own countries' shameful history of genocide. The "Trail of Tears" and massacre of other Native American communities in the United States, the inhuman treatment and deaths of Indigenous children in schools in Canada, and the world's first concentration camp built by the United Kingdom in South Africa are typical examples of ethnic cleansing.

The population of Native Indians plummeted from 5 million in the late 15th century to 250,000 in the early 20th century because of the organized massacres of Indigenous communities.

The history of US prosperity is also the history of the killings of Native Indians.

The slave trade, and the torture and killings of black people are among the most heinous crimes committed by the US and some other Western countries against humanity. So shameless have US politicians been that it took them 100 years to announce compensation for the victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, in which white mobs attacked and killed African Americans and burned their homes in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Despite all this, the US claims to be a "greatest defender" of human rights. Does it do so to cover up its human rights crimes?

The brutal killing of George Floyd by a white policeman in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2020 showed minority groups are still treated with disdain and hatred, and often subjected to violence. And the fact that COVID-19 infections and death rates among ethnic minority groups are much higher than that among white people shows there is still no racial equality in the US.

Canada's human rights record is bad, too. From 1883 to 1996, about 150,000 Indigenous children were forcibly separated from their parents and sent to residential schools established by the Canadian government, so they could be assimilated into "mainstream society", with one-third of them dying in "school custody" mainly due to ill-treatment and torture.

So instead of accusing other countries of committing human rights crimes, the US and Canada should reflect on the atrocities and crimes they have committed against the Indigenous people.

China is moving toward realizing national rejuvenation, and on its way to fulfilling its dream, it will continue to take measures to promote the further development of all ethnic groups.

It is clear therefore that the US accusations are nothing but ploys to hide its own failures and weaknesses, and stigmatize China so it can maintain its global hegemony.