The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday addressed recent accusations against China, disseminated by certain Western countries, on issues involving Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ministry published a statement on its official website refuting 37 false claims, citing detailed scientific and legal evidence. It said the statement was composed to prevent the false claims, which it said were full of ignorance and biases against China, from causing further misunderstandings.

Hong Kong residents celebrate the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Causeway Bay, south China's Hong Kong, June 30, 2020. /Xinhua

National security law for HKSAR

Establishing and improving the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for safeguarding national security in the HKSAR at the state level by the National People's Congress (NPC) in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law is a necessary step to plug loopholes in the HKSAR national security legislation, the ministry said in the statement, as well as to uphold national sovereignty and security.

The legislation is a fundamental solution to ensure the steady and successful implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems," it added.

Hong Kong will not return to peace until the separatists, gangsters, rioters and outlaws are brought to justice, the ministry said in the statement. The decision mandates the Standing Committee of the NPC to formulate relevant laws, targeting only a minority who seriously endanger national security, rather than the majority of ordinary people who abide by the laws and regulations and therefore will not affect the rights and freedoms of most Hong Kong people, it added.

On the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the statement said that the legislation is all about China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong. The basic policies regarding Hong Kong declared by China in the Joint Declaration are China's statement of policies, not a commitment to Britain or an international obligation as some claim.

As China resumed exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997, the Chinese government administers the SAR in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Meanwhile, all rights and obligations of the British side under the Joint Declaration were completed.

Staff members check a sample for a nucleic acid test at the laboratory of KingMed Diagnostics, a Chinese medical diagnostic testing company in Beijing, China, June 26, 2020. /Xinhua

COVID-19

In response to the allegation China covered up or delayed release of information which resulted in the spread of COVID-19, the statement underlined that China provided timely information to the world in an open, transparent and responsible manner.

On January 23, China sent a powerful warning to the world by putting Wuhan, a city of 12 million people, under lockdown. On that day, the U.S. reported only one case. On February 2, the U.S. announced the decision to close its borders to all Chinese citizens and foreign nationals who had been to China within the prior 14 days. The U.S. had only eight reported cases on that day.

According to data released by countries including Canada, France, Russia, Australia, Singapore and Japan, most of their infected cases did not come from China.

In response to the claim China arrested "whistleblower" Dr. Li Wenliang to cover up the spread of the virus, the statement reiterated that Dr. Li was not a whistleblower and was not arrested.

Dr. Zhang Jixian, a respiratory doctor, was the first to report COVID-19 cases, and was rewarded for this contribution.

The statement added that Dr. Li was a good doctor who was named a "national model healthcare worker in fighting COVID-19" in March and honored as a martyr in April.

Xinjiang

China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has suffered deeply from extremism, violent terrorism and separatism, which jeopardized the safety and property of inhabitants.

Xinjiang has taken a series of measures to combat these activities and prevent their re-occurrence and achieved good results, the statement said, adding that not a single terrorist attack has occurred in Xinjiang in the more than three years since the region started to offer vocational training and education programs. All the trainees have graduated from these centers and acquired vocational skills. They have secured jobs and are living a normal life, it said.

On a report which claimed there were "one million Uygurs in detention" in Xinjiang, the statement noted that the figure was sourced from a Washington-based non-governmental organization, the Network of Chinese-Human Righters Defenders (CHRD), based on interviews with only eight Uygurs in an area with a population of 20 million.

CHRD "extrapolated estimates" that "at least 10 percent of villagers… are being detained in re-education detention camps, and 20 percent are being forced to attend day/evening re-education camps in the villages or townships." This is pure fiction, according to the statement.