After 21 people were killed in Xinjiang on Tuesday in what Chinese authorities have called “terrorist acts,” the United States urged China to conduct a transparent investigation into the violence. From BBC News:
US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell also urged that “due process protections” be given to all Chinese citizens, including ethnic Uighurs.
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“We urge the Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation of this incident,” Mr Ventrell said.
He asked China to provide Uighurs with all the protections “to which they are entitled not only under Chinese constitutional laws but the international human rights commitments as well”.He also called on China to safeguard religious rights.
Chinese officials called out the U.S. on Thursday for refusing to condemn the attack, which the state-run Global Times had compared to the Boston Marathon bombing. From Reuters:
The U.S. refusal to condemn the attack showed double standards, considering that it had been the recent victim of a terrorist attack, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.
“We simply oppose the U.S. reversing black and white, confusing right and wrong, and continually refusing to condemn violent terrorist incidents, and instead, making wild accusations about Chinese policy toward ethnic minorities,” she said.
“We hope the U.S. will turn a mirror on itself and all its own domestic problems instead of pointing fingers at other countries.”
