'Xinjiang genocide' claim a malicious lie

In January 2021, on his final full day in office, as his parting salvo, the former lame-duck US secretary of state Mike Pompeo dropped a bombshell by falsely accusing China of "genocide" in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Afterward, a few Western politicians, media outlets, and scholars jumped on the bandwagon to perpetuate the false accusation and unleash fiery rhetoric against China.

The plain facts on the ground and the well-settled law of genocide inevitably lead to the conclusion that it is past time to end the staggering untruth and the abuse of the G-word in Xinjiang. Those familiar with contemporary history are aware of the origin of the term "genocide". The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg used the term to describe the Nazis' extermination of the Jews and the commission of atrocities during World War II.

Today, genocide is the gravest crime known to the law of nations. It is declared to be "the crime of all crimes." The heinous crime is the most vicious violation of human rights, even constituting a threat to international peace and security. The serious nature of the crime presses for the utmost rigor and exactitude in applying the law and procedure to the facts, and requires the highest standard of proof to establish genocide.