Beijing [China], February 9 (ANI): The selection of the final torchbearer at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics was a normal arrangement, said China emphasising the US' genocide allegation of Uyghurs by the communist regime is a lie of the century.

"The selection of the final torchbearer at the opening ceremony is a normal arrangement made by China. The US is in no position to make wanton remarks. Its genocide allegation is a lie of the century, which fully exposed its sinister intention of politicizing the Games and maliciously smearing China with Xinjiang-related issues," said Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Zhao Lijian.

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"Its erroneous practice is unpopular and is doomed to fail, which will only lead to its further isolation from the international community," he added.

The spokesperson also said that throughout history, the US committed genocide against Native Americans. "It is also plagued by persistent systemic discrimination against ethnic minorities. The Native American population nosedived by 95 per cent from five million at the end of the 15th century to 2,50,000 at the beginning of the 20th century."

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"What is genocide? What the US has done to the Native Americans was true genocide. The US should reckon with its historical crimes of genocide against Native Americans and take effective measures to reduce racial discrimination against ethnic minorities including Native Americans and people of African and Asian descent," said Lijian.

It came after the White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki -- while responding to queries that China used a young Uyghur athlete to carry the Olympic torch -- said that "we can not allow this to be a distraction from the human rights abuses, the genocide that we are seeing in parts of China. That is why we did not send a diplomatic delegation." (ANI)

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