Yesterday, the Global Affairs Canada, based on an illegal and invalid so-called human rights assessment report on China’s Xinjiang fabricated by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) two years ago, once again issued a clichéd statement about “systematic human rights violations”, “forced labour” and “religious oppression” in Xinjiang, smearing the human rights situation in Xinjiang and interfering in China’s internal affairs. China deplores and firmly opposes the statement.   

Those in the best position to comment on Xinjiang’s human rights situation are the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. Now Xinjiang enjoys social stability, economic prosperity, ethnic unity, religious harmony and improved livelihoods. People of all ethnic groups enjoy full freedom of labor and employment. The customs and traditions of ethnic minorities, and their freedom of religious belief and right to use their own languages are fully respected and safeguarded. The human rights situation in Xinjiang is at its best in history. Over the past year, thousands of government officials, diplomatic envoys, religious figures, experts and scholars, and journalists from all over the world visited Xinjiang, all of whom have highly commended the achievements of Xinjiang’s economic and social development, and stressed that the Xinjiang they saw with their own eyes is completely different from what is described in the Western media and by anti-Chinese forces. In recent years, nearly 100 countries have consistently spoken up in support of China’s legitimate position on Xinjiang-related issues at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Third Committee of the General Assembly and other occasions.  

Lies can never change the truth, and justice lies in the hearts of the people. Facts prove wrong all fabricated stories made up to discredit China’s human rights situation in Xinjiang and any political manipulation on the Xinjiang issue is doomed to failure. China urges the Canadian side to seriously reflect on and rectify its own human rights problems, abandon prejudice, respect the objective facts, and immediately stop any unwarranted remarks on Xinjiang and stop interfering in China's internal affairs.