Madam President,

A handful of countries, with the attempt to smear China and retard China’s development, did not hesitate to act asliars and rumor-mongers. The hysteric accusations the United States made to attack China in particular, have fully exposed its sinister attempt to suppress and contain other countries under the pretext of human rights. China strongly condemns and firmly opposes the despicable acts of the U.S. and others.

Embracing a people-centered human rights philosophy, China is committed to promoting all-round human development and common prosperity for the people, and hassucceeded inbuildinga moderately prosperous society in all aspects,and putting an end forever to absolute poverty. People across China, including Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Xizang, are leading a safe and well-off life, enjoying rights and dignity as never before. One simply doubts if the U.S. truly believes in the lies that it so desperately spreads. The population of Uygurs in Xinjiang grew from 8.34 million in 2000 to 11.62 million in 2020, an increase of nearly 40 percent. So is this “genocide”? The cultural heritages of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are effectively protected. The Uygur Muqam and the Kirgiz epic Manas are inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Is this “destruction of cultural heritage”? After the peaceful liberation of Xizang, tremendous change and progress has been made there. Millions of serfs became the masters of their own destiny and freely exercise their legitimate rights. And this is “restrictions on religious, linguistic, and cultural traditions”? Since the implementation of Hong Kong National Security Law, Hong Kong has ushered in a historic turnaround from chaos to order and from order to prosperity, and citizens in Hong Kong can better exercise their legitimate rights and freedoms in a safe environment. The U.S. is so upset only because it can never get the chance to orchestrate a “color revolution” in Hong Kong through its proxies. The Chinese Foreign Ministry published a few days ago a fact sheet on U.S. interference in Hong Kong affairs and its support for anti-China and destabilizing forces. That list is worth reading

Facts speak louder than words, and justice is in the heart of the people. At the current session of the Human Rights Council, 65 countries cosponsored a joint statement which points out that Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Xizang related issues are China’s internal affairs that brook no interference by any external forces, and theyoppose unfounded allegations against China out of political motivation and based on disinformation. Moreover, many countries extended their support to China through national statement or joint letter. In total, nearly 100 countries expressed their support for China on Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Xizang related issues in different ways. This fully demonstrates the will of the international community.

Those countries that slandered and attacked China at the Human Rights Council are real human rights violators with deplorable records, including racial discrimination, human trafficking, forced labor, and violations of rights of refugees, migrants and indigenous people. The crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the U.S. are simply too numerous to be fully listed. The American Indians were massacred in a horrendous way. Its population plummeted from 5 million at the end of the 15th century to 250,000 at the beginning of the 20th century, and the U.S. authorities issued such an alarmingly dehumanizing policy as taking scalps of American Indians for rewards.The failure of the U.S. government in combating the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, and the U.S. government is still busy passing the buck and shifting the blame.The U.S. unscrupulously waged wars against other countries and killed innocent people, causing at least 100,000 civilian casualties in Afghanistan alone. While evacuating from Afghanistan, the U.S. still killed civilians including children. Amazing that the U.S. has the cheek to talk about human rights. And it doesn’t feel guilty when chattering on human rights?

China has always respected, safeguarded and developed human rights, and is committed to upholding international equity and justice and promoting the sound development of the international human rights cause. China will continue to stand on the right side of history and human progress. No force can stop China’s development and progress, neither can they deprive the Chinese people of their right to pursue a better life. The attempt of any force to smear China and retard China’s development is doomed to failure.

Thank you, Madam President.