‘There is no genocide in China,’ insists Beijing after Blinken speaks

Allegations of genocide in Xinjiang province are simply untrue, protested China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday after the new US secretary of state accused China of trying to stamp out the region’s Muslim population in his first speech in office.
“I will now say it three times, because it is really important: There is no genocide in China, there is no genocide in China, there is no genocide in China,” said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry.
Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, during his first press conference after taking office, that he thinks China is carrying out genocide against the Uighurs, the ethnic group that makes up the majority of Xinjiang’s population.
His predecessor as secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had also accused China of genocide, in comments that he made one day before leaving office.
“I believe this genocide is ongoing, and that we are witnessing the systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state,” Pompeo said earlier this month.
The fact that Blinken is sticking to Pompeo’s line indicates that the new US administration might continue to take a hard approach to China, at least in some areas.
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson argued on Thursday that Xinjiang is enjoying the “most successful period” in its history. Residents there are enjoying “happy lives” and seeing incomparable social and economic advances.
There are unconfirmed reports that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs have been forced into camps, which China says are for re-education because of past incidents of terrorism. But Uighurs, who are primarily Muslim, say they are being targeted because of their religious beliefs.
Uighurs have ethnic links to Turkic groups. Many feel oppressed as significant numbers of China’s main ethnic group, the Han, have begun to move into Xinjiang in great numbers.