Infographics: Five Xinjiang-related falsehoods fabricated by anti-China forces (2)

"Mandatory sterilizations"

By means of fabrication, unfounded conjecture, and data fraud, false reports have been concocted by anti-China forces, making accusations that Xinjiang is carrying out "demographic genocide" by forcing birth control on the Uygurs and other ethnic minority groups to suppress their birth rates.

China is a country under the rule of law. The Constitution and relevant laws stipulate unequivocally that the state shall respect and protect human rights, and that all citizens have reproductive rights and also the obligation to practice family planning. China follows the principles of government guidance and individual choice in providing technical services for family planning, and all citizens enjoy the rights to know about and to choose their own contraceptive methods.

Xinjiang implements its family planning policy in accordance with the law. Forced birth control and pregnancy tests are strictly prohibited. It is up to individuals to decide whether or not to use contraceptives and how to use them. No organization or individual may interfere with this freedom.

Women are entitled to decide on birth control based on their own physical and family conditions. With the improvement in women's status and changes in views on marriage and childbearing, an increasing number of women are choosing to marry later and have fewer and healthier children. As a result, they are opting for long-term contraceptive methods.

Statistics show that the Uygur population has been growing steadily and significantly over the decades since the PRC was founded in 1949. Therefore, accusations of "suppression of birth rates" and "demographic genocide" are utterly groundless.