Politics

China calls Xinjiang reports ‘fallacies’, warns EU about sanctions

Javier Garcia

Beijing, Mar 18 (efe-epa).- China on Thursday described allegations of forced labor, sterilization and internment in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, which is home to the ethnic Uighur majority, by German anthropologist Adrian Zenz as “absolute fallacies” and warned the European Union that imposing sanctions on the Asian country based on his claims would have “consequences”.

Speaking at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, Xinjiang Government Vice Director of Propaganda Xu Guixiang said that if the EU “interferes in the internal affairs” of the region “it will make a clear mistake that will have consequences.”

“We will fight back,” he said, regarding Brussels’ decision to apply sanctions on a Chinese entity and four Chinese individuals announced Wednesday and expected to be approved next Monday by the EU.

“Zenz is a religious ultra-right-winger, a member of the US Victims of Communism Foundation, with links to the CIA (US Central Intelligence Agency),” Xu said, adding that his reports “are full of fallacies and ridiculous conclusions.”

“He does not investigate, he only provides arguments for anti-Chinese forces in the West,” he stressed.

The controversial anthropologist’s reports – which makes allegations of forced labor, forced sterilization and even genocide in China’s northwestern region – have been published by several Western media outlets and have served as the basis for other recent studies, such as the one published last week by the US-based Newlines Institute.

“They are complete garbage, they are full of misinformation. Zenz manufactures and makes associations that go against common sense,” Xu said.

Xinjiang government spokesman Elijan Anayat — an ethnic Uighur —  said that “it would take many months to dismantle each of the lies” in the German’s reports and said he finds the attention the foreign media gives to his conjectures “incredible”, singling out British public broadcaster BBC out for particularly “irresponsible” reporting.

Xu said several Xinjiang citizens plan to file lawsuits against the BBC for its “fake news” about the territory, as they have already done against Zenz, according to Chinese official media.

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