Xinjiang governance stands on righteous side
Some governments above county level in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have set up vocational training centers, where people who are brainwashed by extreme thoughts and have committed misdemeanors learn Putonghua, China’s national language, laws and job skills. These training centers, helping to enable these people to return to normal life, have played a key role in stabilizing Xinjiang. The anti-extremism regulation released by the region provides the legal basis for it.
Western opinion has launched a stinging attack on governance in Xinjiang. Who is standing on the righteous side, the Xinjiang government or Western forces? The Xinjiang government has been aiming to stabilize Xinjiang and wipe out violent terrorist attacks. After a terror attack on July 5, 2009, local government exerted enormous efforts to achieve this goal. But after another terror attack in 2013, the situation in Xinjiang deteriorated and was about to spiral out of control.
Since the vocational training centers were set up, the situation in Xinjiang has changed for the better. They may not operate flawlessly, but aim to stop impetuous killings and comfort people frightened by violent terrorist activities. These are the core of human rights.
What do those Westerners who denounce governance in Xinjiang want? They seem to show a tolerant attitude toward people who are brainwashed by extremism and commit acts that damage peace and order in Xinjiang.
Extreme thoughts used to spread recklessly in Xinjiang and radicals acted wantonly, leading to more violent terror attacks. More than 20 million people of all ethnicities in Xinjiang lost their peaceful lives. People from other parts of China didn’t dare travel there and young people from Xinjiang were leaving their homeland. The basic conditions of human rights in Xinjiang were being destroyed bit by bit. Is this what Westerners want?
It’s believed most Westerners do not want Xinjiang to become chaotic. They just don’t understand the real situation in Xinjiang and are misled by ideologically frantic opinion elites. But there are some Western political and opinion elites who are not only arrogant, but also malicious against China. They just want to see a turbulent Xinjiang. They hope China’s governance model fails in Xinjiang and makes Xinjiang a mishap amid China’s rise. But they don’t need to shoulder responsibility for the welfare of Xinjiang people. They are only interested in messing with local governance and embarrassing the central government. Governance in Xinjiang stands on the high moral ground, as the objective of governance is happiness and benefit for the Xinjiang people. In the West-led opinion context, this objective may meet with temporary grievances, but people’s peaceful life is the eventual criteria of this objective.
China understands the difference between its own condition and that of the West’s. It also understands the differences in values. China will try to communicate more with the West about controversial topics. But whatever China does prioritizes the interests of the Chinese people. The objective and practice of governance in Xinjiang is justified and our belief will not be shaken due to external misjudgment and accusations.