China hits back at US over diplomats quotes concerning Xinjiang

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian urged all sides to take a close look and find out which country is the "empire of lies" after the US said China fabricated quotes from US diplomats on Xinjiang.

China Daily reached out to the US State Department and US embassy in Beijing for comment on the US stance on the Xinjiang issue and the veracity of Sheila Carey and Andrew Chira's statements. A State Department spokesperson responded that, "Our position on Xinjiang is clear and has not changed" and continued their years-long official line: "genocide remains ongoing in Xinjiang" .

China and the US are in an escalating contention over Xinjiang. While the US claims China is carrying out genocide in Xinjiang, China denounced it as a geopolitical maneuver and the allegations of genocide a flat-out lie.

The latest chapter in the controversy started Sunday, when the Global Times reported two US diplomats stated at a banquet in 2021 that "nothing is wrong in Xinjiang". Sheila Carey, the consul at the US Consulate General in Guangzhou, and Andrew Chira, who has worked in the US State Department since 2013, were quoted as saying that claims of human rights abuse were "effective tools" to "get China completely under control" and "get the Chinese government trapped".

"The so-called genocide in Xinjiang is the lie of the century concocted by US politicians, and the classic masterpiece of the US' diplomacy of lies." Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said when he commented on the issue at a press briefing on Monday.

Zhao added further context to this when asked about the authenticity of Carey and Chira's statements, that "I would not be surprised if the information is authentic." He then cited a speech by retired US Army Colonel and former United States secretary of state Colin Powell and Lawrence Wilkerson, who stated in 2018, "[The US] would want to destabilize China" and that "the best way to do so" would be to "foment unrest and to join with those Uygurs in pushing the Han Chinese in Beijing from internal places rather than external."

The US embassy demanded that China "not to attribute false statements to US officials". In response, Zhao said on Tuesday, "What I just quoted is not propaganda, nor is it made up by the Chinese government, but actual remarks posted on social media platforms. All of us should take a close look at what has been said and decide which is true and which is false".

Jeffery Wang contributes to the story.