BEIJING(Xinhua) — The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, on Thursday strongly condemned and resolutely opposed the signing of the so-called “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020” by the United States in disregard of stern representations from China.

The U.S. move has grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs and seriously violated international law and the basic norms governing international relations, the committee said in a statement.

To respect and protect human rights is an important principle set forth in China’s Constitution and an important goal of China’s endeavors to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, according to the statement.

From 1990 to the end of 2016, thousands of terrorist attacks were launched in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, causing substantial losses of innocent lives and damages of property, the statement noted.

The measures China has adopted to counter terrorism and extremism, including setting up vocational education and training centers, are in line with Chinese laws and the international community’s shared expectations for counterterrorism, the statement said.

Over the past more than three years, not a single case of terrorist attack occurred in Xinjiang, which has, to the greatest extent, protected the rights to life of the 25 million people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, it noted.

“This is the best embodiment of respecting human rights, which has been endorsed by the Chinese people and widely supported by the international community,” said the statement. “Xinjiang-related issues are nothing about human rights, ethnicity or religion at all, but about combating violence, terrorism and extremism.”

The United States is also a victim of terrorism and should have supported China’s anti-terrorism measures, according to the statement.

In the name of human rights, however, the United States has maliciously attacked China’s counterterrorism and deradicalization efforts, attempting to destroy the favorable situation of stability and development in Xinjiang, according to the statement.

“It is a typical double standard on counterterrorism,” it said.

Xinjiang affairs are part of China’s internal affairs that brook no external interference, the statement said, stressing China is unswervingly committed to defending its national sovereignty, security and development interests.

“We urge the U.S. side to immediately stop its interference in China’s internal affairs and its wrongdoings that have seriously damaged China-U.S. relations,” it said. Enditem