China has lashed out at the French National Assembly, saying that the recently passed resolution denouncing the genocide of Uyghurs is based on ‘pure lies’.
Chinese officials have responded harshly to a recently passed resolution in the French parliament, saying that the motion denouncing the genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang is based on “pure lies”.
Passing with overwhelming support, Thursday’s non-binding resolution invited the French government to recognise China’s genocide of its Uyghur minority, as well as to take “the necessary measures with the international community and in its foreign policy” in order to put an end to the situation.
According to a report by Le Monde, a spokesman for the communist country, Zhao Lijian, said that China “strongly condemns” the measure, which she said was based on “pure lies”.
“The French National Assembly’s resolution on Xinjiang ignores facts and legal knowledge and grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs,” AFP reports Lijian as saying, while Le Monde notes that the spokesman said that China wanted to express its “deep concern that the relevant resolution would seriously damage Sino-French relations as well as France’s credibility and image in the eyes of the Chinese.”
“The French side is fully aware of the absurdity and harmfulness of this resolution,” Lijian continued. “It must show consistency between word and deed and take concrete actions to safeguard the healthy development of Sino-French relations.”
Meanwhile, a report detailing the Chinese response to the resolution published by the Global Times — a propaganda outlet run by the CCP — has gone offline at the time of writing, though an archive of the article remains available.
Despite the harsh words, Le Monde comments that China appears to be showing relative leniency towards France over the passed motion, the country having traditionally kept a more moderate position on foreign relations with the communist country.
This is in stark contrast to Lithuania, which has found itself knee-deep in a diplomatic crisis with the communist state as a result of allowing Taiwan to open an embassy under its own name, rather than under the China-approved name of Taipei.
As a result of the incident, China has downgraded its diplomatic ties with the country, also halting freight trains to the country.
Many politicians in Lithuania have remained stalwart in the nation’s decision, with one stating that the country did not want a replay of the 1940s, when the likes of “Stalin and Hitler” decided the country’s fate “behind closed doors”.
Taiwan has meanwhile pledged to invest $200 million in the country’s industry where it is “strategic for both Lithuania and Taiwan”.
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