This photo dated May 22, 2020 shows flags of China on the Tian'anmen Square and atop the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China. (XING GUANGLI / XINHUA)
China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations on Tuesday categorically opposed and rejected accusations against China on enforced disappearances.
As a country governed by the rule of law, China's Constitution and laws clearly stipulate that citizens enjoy personal freedom, and that no organization or individual can illegally restrict the personal freedom of others. We firmly oppose any form of enforced disappearance.
China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield used the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Tuesday to issue a statement "to launch groundless accusations against China and interfere in the work of international organizations". China categorically opposes and rejects this, said China's Permanent Mission to the UN in a statement released on Tuesday.
An enforced disappearance is considered to be any form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty, according to the UN.
Enforced disappearance is an extreme violation of human rights that is prohibited and punished by countries in accordance with the law, the statement said.
"As a country governed by the rule of law, China's Constitution and laws clearly stipulate that citizens enjoy personal freedom, and that no organization or individual can illegally restrict the personal freedom of others. We firmly oppose any form of enforced disappearance," it said.
"For quite some time, the United States has been fabricating lies and hyping up Xinjiang-related issues. It talks about protecting human rights, but what it really wants is to use Xinjiang-related issues to contain China."
At present, people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region enjoy safety and stability, and live and work in peace and happiness. The human rights of all ethnic groups are fully protected. There is no so-called enforced disappearance in Xinjiang at all, according to the statement, adding that the US' ulterior motive has already been laid bare for all to see.
A farmer harvests grapes at a plantation in Shuanghe, Xinjiang, in September 2021. (HU WEIBIN / FOR CHINA DAILY)
Human rights violations by US
"The United States has always portrayed itself as a 'human rights judge' and 'human rights defender'. But the fact is the country has serious problems of enforced disappearances and a poor human rights record that gets worse with each passing day," it said.
China's Permanent Mission to the UN pointed out that the systematic slaughter of Indigenous people in the US since its independence in 1776 has reduced the Native American population from 5 million to 250,000. "This is not only enforced disappearance, but a genocide with unarguable proofs," it said
The statement pointed out that the systematic slaughter of Indigenous people in the US since its independence in 1776 has reduced the Native American population from 5 million to 250,000. "This is not only enforced disappearance, but a genocide with unarguable proofs," it said.
The statement pointed out that wars waged by the US have claimed the lives of more than 929,000 people in the past decade alone.
The US also established overseas prisons such as the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where it has committed a wide range of human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and torture.
Sixteen UN Special Procedures mandate-holders have called on the US to shut down those overseas prisons and provide compensation to the detainees, but the US has "turned a deaf ear to those calls", the statement said.
The US paid little attention to its own people's right to life and right to health, as 1.04 million people have lost their lives and more than 200,000 children were left orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the statement.
Last year, gun violence in the US claimed more than 44,000 lives. These are permanent enforced disappearances caused by the government's inaction and failure, the statement said.
The public statement by the US ambassador is the latest evidence of the US' "coercive diplomacy" and its "arbitrary interference" in the work of the UN and other international organizations.
"What the United States has done is a serious violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, making it the biggest saboteur of multilateralism and international rules," the statement said.