A call for transparency by China over accusations of bio-warfare labs in Ukraine that U.S. officials called “laughable” comes from a nation accused by other countries of committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims.
"The best way for the US to prove its innocence on the issue of the bio-labs in Ukraine and other places around the globe is to open up for international scrutiny," a Chinese-state affiliated spokesperson tweeted on March 24.
The U.S. and Ukraine have signed a treaty declaring they would never use or produce biological weaponry. NPR reported the bio lab claim pushed by Russia as false.
"The Russian accusations are absurd, they are laughable and you know, in the words of my Irish Catholic grandfather, a bunch of malarkey," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said, according to Reuters.
A growing consensus considers actions against the Uyghur Muslims are consistent with genocide, according to the Wall Street Journal. Some concerns cited are involuntary birth control, political indoctrination and forced labor.
More than 40 mostly Western nations called on China to grant the U.N. “immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Beijing maintains that the Uyghur genocide is “the lie of the century.”
Human Rights Watch’s China director, Sophie Richardson, said it’s not clear why Beijing is given a lot of deference, the newspaper reported.
“The Uyghurs there cannot speak openly, cannot speak publicly because they are so scared of retaliation by local authorities who were watching very closely,” Peter Irwin of the Uyghur Human Rights Project said, the Wall Street Journal reported.
A 2018 report on China’s repressive acts said that more than 1 million Uyghurs out of 11 million had been detained, with reports of deaths in custody, torture, and systemic political indoctrination.
The University of Alberta’s Ashley Esarey said President Xi Jinping will continue to use media power to gain his objectives and add to his authority, the Globe Banner said.
"I see him continuing to try to use media power to achieve his objectives," she said in a podcast. "And I see it contributing to his authority going forward. And if you read the media as a transcript, you don't see too much opposition to his authority. What I'm less certain of is how the creation of this cult of personality is being read by people in China.”
Speaking at the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Nov. 11, President Xi emphasized the Internet as the "main arena" and "frontline of the ideological struggle," Xinhua.net reported.
