Beijing Winter Olympics organisers dismiss Uyghur human rights abuse stories as ‘lies’

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A spokesperson for the Beijing Winter Olympics has dismissed systemic human rights abuses by the Chinese government against the Uyghurmuslim population as “lies.”

The entirety of the Games has been played out against a backdrop of controversy and political wrangling, with nations including the United States of America and the United Kingdom launching diplomatic boycotts of the event owing to China’s treatment of its Uyghur community.

Since 2014 the Chinese government has pursued a series of policies which have led to the incarceration and killing of Uyghurs in the Xianjiang region, with human rights organisations referring to the approach as a genocide. More than one million muslims have been detained in internment camps by the Chinese Communist Party, in the largest-scale detention of ethnic and religious minorities since World War II.

Speaking at a press conference in Beijing, though, spokesperson and former member of the Chinese delegation to the UN General Assembly Yan Jiarong claimed that stories of human rights abuses against the Uyghurs are unfounded.

“I think these questions are based on lies,” Yan said. “Some authorities have already disputed such false information with a lot of solid evidence. You are very welcome to refer to all that evidence and facts.” Asked afterwards if she really believed the comments she had made, she replied: “Yes, yes. But this is not the relevant department. The foreign ministry and other ministries have released lots and lots of facts and data to refute these kind of allegations.”

In the same interview, Yan also parroted her government’s position that Taiwan is a part of China, and said that most the international community agrees. The vast majority of nations worldwide accept that Taiwan is an independent state, however.

“Taiwan is an individable part of China [sic],” Yan claimed. “This is a well-recognised international principle and well-recognised in the international community. We are always against the idea of politicising the Olympic Games. IOC has 206 members including People’s Republic China National Olympic Committee, including Chinese Taipei, the original Olympic Committee.

“There is only one China in the world.”

The Beijing Winter Olympics will conclude this Sunday 20 February.