BEIJING: Chinese FM spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Thursday debunked the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s (ASPI) groundless lies about China, including satellite images of the so-called “detention camps” in Xinjiang which turned out to be office buildings and colleges, and noted that the international community will choose to stand with the truth. Previously, an Australian media outlet published an article saying that the reports by ASPI and other institutions and scholars published in the name of so-called “academia and neutrality” are not based on facts and have no academic value at all, and have actually been producing and spreading false information. “This is not the first time that media outlets unveiled the true colors of ASPI,” Zhao said at a news conference on Thursday, “ASPI’s behavior has been widely criticized by many, including Australian scholars, over a period of time.” An ASPI report claims that “detention facilities for ethnic minorities” exist in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region through analysis of satellite photographs and so-called “eyewitness evidence.”
However, the so-called satellite photograph is only an interactive map, and the “eyewitness evidence” was never confirmed or traced, Zhao pointed out. The report also claims that there are “detention camps” in Turpan and Kashi in Xinjiang, which are actually an office building of the local administrative institution, local high schools and colleges and universities.
“They are all marked on Google Maps and Baidu Maps, which you can consult,” Zhao added. “The facts have amply demonstrated that ASPI is fabricating and spreading lies, rumors and disinformation in matters related to China,” Zhao noted, “It aims to stigmatize and demonize China and damage China’s image and interests.
“Credibility is the foundation of every man,” Zhao said, quoting an ancient Chinese saying, “All of ASPI’s fabricated information and malicious spreading of rumors will be continuously slammed by truth and facts.”
– The Daily Mail-Global Times News exchange item
