China urges some in the US to stop lying on Xinjiang for political interests, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Thursday in response to the rumor of China's surveillance of Uygur people in Xinjiang.
File photo: CFP
Republican Senator Marco Rubio and others on Tuesday questioned the use of Intel and Nvidia chips by Chinese police to carry out so-called large-scale surveillance on Uygurs.
“Rubio has always been anti-China and is keen on fabricating all kinds of lies to smear China and seek political self-interest. He has no political integrity at all,” Hua said.
Hua stressed that the installation of cameras in public places is not targeted at any ethnic group. The aim was to improve social governance and effectively prevent and combat crime. This measure has increased social security and gained wide support from people of all ethnic groups.
Hua also pointed out that the US has long been criticized for its use of high-tech methods to conduct mass surveillance. According to US reports, the US government required 20 major airports to scan passengers' faces in 2017, the New York Police built a city surveillance system everywhere to track individuals and collect information, and shared intelligence surveillance on social media and online forums.
As the Guardian reported on July 17, at least a quarter of US law enforcement agencies are able to use facial recognition technology with little oversight and in combination with so-called “gang databases” (covering 42,000 New Yorkers, mostly people of color) to target protesters with unfair surveillance and "selective enforcement".
Hua said, “It is an open secret that relevant US agencies have long violated international law and basic norms governing international relations by carrying out large-scale, organized and indiscriminate cyber espionage, surveillance and attacks on foreign governments, enterprises and individuals.”
“China urged individuals in the US to abandon double standards, stop political manipulation, stop fabricating lies related to Xinjiang and stop interfering in China's internal affairs under the pretext of Xinjiang issues,” Hua said.