Photo taken on Dec. 2, 2021 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C.. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

by Xinhua writer Guo Yage

Washington's announcement of a so-called "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games in the name of protecting human rights in Xinjiang is another example of America's "lying diplomacy."

Whenever the White House feels the need to sugarcoat its geopolitical intentions, it resorts to distortion and fabrication. Think of the faked videos about Syria by U.S.-funded White Helmets, or the small vial of "washing powder" with which Washington paved its way to invading Iraq.

In recent years, Washington has intensified its China-smearing campaign by manufacturing and peddling all kinds of lies.

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is reportedly set to join the Senate in passing an ill-founded Xinjiang-related bill. And in July last year, the U.S. embassy and consulates in China posted photoshopped pictures on social media to frame China for "forced labor."

However, none of those stand the scrutiny of facts. Xinjiang has witnessed remarkable progress in recent years. Thanks to counterterrorism and de-radicalization measures taken by the Chinese government in accordance with law, there has been no terrorist incident in Xinjiang for many years.

The Uygur population in Xinjiang has doubled to more than 12 million over the past 40 years, while the gross domestic product there has surged by more than 200 times in the past six-plus decades. Absolute poverty has been eliminated. Jobs in the cotton industry are well-paid and competitive.

Citizens' right to freedom of religious belief is fully guaranteed as well. There are more than 24,000 mosques in the region, over 10 times the number in the United States.

Still, it seems that those arrogant and highly prejudiced U.S. politicians lack even the slightest interest in learning these truths. The Chinese side, including officials from Xinjiang, has on multiple occasions given a thorough introduction about the region's development, while many international observers have criticized the U.S. rumor-mongering. But those China-bashers have turned a deaf ear to these voices of reason.

Only one reason can explain their indifference to the truths in Xinjiang: to use lies to interfere with China's internal affairs, stir up chaos in the region, and hold back China's peaceful development.

Fortunately, more and more people have started to sober up to America's "lying diplomacy." In fact, China's policy and position on Xinjiang have received support from more than 80 countries, including the vast Muslim nations, at the 46th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council earlier this year.

In fact, as Washington spares no effort in smearing China, America's own human rights situation is tarnished with appalling records. And it seems that those China hawks in the United States are more interested in throwing dirty water onto others, instead of improving the welfare of their own people, like tackling the surge of racial discrimination and gun violence back in their own country.

"How unoriginal, how boring, how hypocritical -- again an Olympic boycott?" former UN independent expert Alfred-Maurice de Zayas lamented on Twitter following the U.S. announcement of the diplomatic boycott of Beijing 2022, adding, "We Americans are so much into 'weaponizing' everything that we ruin democracy, human rights and now sports."

Well said on America's "lying diplomacy!"