'Will respond in kind': China warns Australia against sanctions over human rights abuse

China has warned Australia that it will “respond in kind” if Canberra followed the suit of other nations by sanctioning Beijing over the human rights violations against the ethnic minority of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, reported ANI citing local media reports. In a conference on April 8. Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye said that Beijing "will not swallow the bitter pill of interfering or meddling in China's internal affairs.” As per reports, Cheng was joined by Chinese government officials through a Zoom call from Xinjiangfor a two-hour-long press conference in Canberra.

During the conference, Chinese government officials not only rejected the Australian government’s accusations as “fake news” and “lies” but also featured propaganda-style videos about how life could look in the autonomous region of north-western China. However, reportedly, the members of the Uyghur community in Australia labelled the presentation on Xinjiang as “preposterous propaganda.”

The conference by Chinese officials came as the tensions between Australia and China have reached an all-time-low with issues ranging from trade war to Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Canberra has slapped several sanctions on Beijing with China reiterating in a similar manner.  Cheng’s warning to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government came after United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on the officials responsible for the human rights abuses in Xinjiang. 

China Releases Xinjiang-themed Musical Movie

The presentation was displayed to dismiss Australia’s allegation just as a new state-produced Xinjiang-themed movie The Wings of Songs has hit China’s cinema’s and it portrays “the region’s rich cultural resources”, devoid of repression, mass surveillance and even the Islam of its majority Uyghur population. 

According to the Global Times, the movie focuses on three men from different ethnic groups dreaming of the big time as they gather musical inspiration across cultures in the snow-capped mountains and desert-scapes of the vast region. The movie has been inspired by Hollywood’s La La Land and it features the “strong ethnic characteristics of Xinjiang”. 

However, The Wings of Songs is believed to an elaborate PR offensive to rebrand the north-western region where the US, other western countries and human rights groups say genocide has been inflicted on the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. 

Image credits: AP