AT a time when the European coronavirus death toll exceeded 500,000, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Xinjiang, demanding EU countries impose sanctions on Xinjiang officials and ban imports, including cotton, which are allegedly linked to so-called “forced labor.” Raphaël Glucksmann, a French member of the EU Parliament, emotionally imitated renowned French novelist Émile Zola, saying, “I accuse” multiple times during his speech in parliament. Anyone familiar with the situation in Xinjiang would feel funny and even a bit gross when seeing the performance. China has not launched a war for decades. It has made brilliant achievements in poverty alleviation and improvement in people’s livelihood in the 21st century. It has spared no effort to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic and has taken the lead in putting the virus under control. It emphasizes national unity, offering preferential treatment to ethnic minorities in terms of access to educational opportunities. How can such a country possibly persecute one of its ethnic groups? How can Glucksmann be so arrogant to portray this advancing oriental power so dark only based on hearsay? Sir, you are spellbound. Wake up.
Despite all the controversies, China’s human rights situation is significantly better than that of many Western countries in the second half of 2020. During the period, the number of Chinese fatalities from the novel coronavirus is small, Chinese people enjoy a life as that before the epidemic outbreak, while almost 37,000 people have died in Europe just in the past week. At least for now, the European Parliament is not qualified to clamor for human rights toward China. They should focus on themselves, making contributions to avoid falling into a winter of humanitarian disaster. Most resolutions of the European Parliament cannot be legally enforced, and many European countries will not blindly follow its anti-China bills. This latest resolution over Xinjiang received very little attention in Europe and people there are mostly talking about President Emmanuel Macron’s positive diagnosis of COVID-19. But Global Times decided to respond to it because we have seen a trend – Western public opinion has lost its basic objectivity on China-related issues, and labels have crushed their rationality and judgment. Ignorance and arrogance prevail. Setting aside Western countries’ morality, slandering China, a vigorous and peaceful country that underlines cooperation with the outside world, is anti-intellectual. Some Westerners believe they are more concerned about the well-being of the people in Xinjiang, and they shoulder greater moral responsibilities in this regard.
– Global Times
