In the wake of international backlash against reported human rights violations in Xinjiang Province, Chinese officials are trying to reverse the blame by putting slavery in the spotlight.
During a press conference at the Chinese Embassy in Washington on Thursday, Chinese spokesman Hua Chunying rejected questions about recent boycotts against big brands like Nike, Adidas and H&M after the US, under President Trump, imported cotton from Xinjiang in January prohibited.
“On the issue of ‘forced labor’ itself, the allegations against Xinjiang by some Western countries, including the US, are based entirely on lies,” Hua told reporters on Thursday.
“Here’s a photo of black slaves being forced to work in cotton fields in the US,” Hua, prepared with photos, demonstrated to reporters. “Here’s another photo of cotton fields in Xinjiang, China, where more than 70 percent of the cotton is harvested using machines. There is never ‘forced labor’ in cotton picking in Xinjiang. “
“Some are keen to link [job opportunity] with forced labor and oppression because they have done this for hundreds of years in history itself, ”she continued. “They assume the behavior of others based on their own experience.”
China has recently developed a defense tactic to try to turn allegations of oppression against the country by raising American social justice issues.
A top Chinese diplomat criticized the US at a controversial US-China summit in Alaska, saying “there are many human rights issues within the United States,” calling Black Lives Matter a “deep-seated” issue.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pointed to reports of abuses in Hong Kong, Taiwan and against the Uyghurs, an ethnic Muslim minority group in Xinjiang.
The emphasis on slavery in the US comes only after the US, along with other Western countries, imposed new sanctions on the over-reported human rights violations against the Uyghurs by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
President Biden himself has not classified the abuses by the PRC as genocide, but in a statement Monday, Blinken accused China of “continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.”