‘China contributes greatly to Sabah’s economy’
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah, the nearest state in Malaysia to China, has a thousand-year friendship with China and these two places enjoy close people-to-people and cultural ties, as well as tacit cooperation, said Consul General of the People’s Republic in Kota Kinabalu, Dr Huang Shifang.
Huang said that in recent years, the landmark progress in China-Malaysia relations has created a rare opportunity for the cooperation between China and Sabah.
Speaking at a media briefing here on Monday, Huang disclosed that in 2023, Sabah carried out friendly exchanges with many provinces and cities in China, and fruitful achievements were made in the development of our relations.
“The Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, as well as some other Cabinet ministers and State legislative assemblymen/women visited China. All these visits have given rise to the exchanges and cooperation on the local level between our two sides.
“Cooperation between us in all areas like investments, trade and culture has been strengthened with a strong momentum. China is Sabah’s biggest trading partner. China has significantly contributed to Sabah’s economy in recent years, both in industry and tourism,” she said.
Huang disclosed that the Kibing Group from China has invested three billion yuan in Sabah’s photovoltaic glass manufacturing industry, creating around 2,000 jobs and the company has successfully exported the first batch of photovoltaic glass from Sabah, which is also the first batch of photovoltaic glass exported from Sabah, a milestone for the State’s manufacturing industry.
On the tourism sector, she said with the reciprocal visafree policies between China and Malaysia, nearly 92,000 Chinese tourists visited Sabah in JanuaryFebruary this year, accounting for 17.27 per cent of the total number of foreign tourists in Sabah during the same period, making them the top of the list of visitors to the state.
Amity between the people holds the key to sound state-tostate relations, said Huang, and to enhance the friendship between the Chinese and Sabah people, the Consulate General and the Yayasan Nur Juhar Foundation have donated funds to build reading facilities in remote rural elementary schools in Sabah with the hope that the seeds of friendship between China and Sabah will grow in the young hearts of these children, and when they grow up, they will contribute to China-Malaysia relations and friendship between
China and Sabah.
“Next month, the Consulate General will host a reception to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, and will organize the seventh short film competition and the third essay competition in the second half of the year, hoping to help boost exchanges and cooperation between China and Sabah,” she said.
Huang in her briefing also dispelled allegations of “forced labor” in Xinjiang which is located in the northwest of China, as a few Western countries and anti-China forces recently went all out to hype up the so-called “forced labor” in Xinjiang’s cottongrowing industry.
The groundless allegation of “forced labor” in Xinjiang is not only absurd, but also exposes the ignorance of those behind it, she said.
Huang explained that during the cotton-picking season, workers seeking employment from other provinces and cities in China would travel to Xinjiang to meet the shortfall of laborers and help the cottongrowers bring in the harvest. In return, the workers get generous remunerations.
“As you can see, this is a win-win. Besides, with the development and wide application of agricultural machinery, manual labor is being replaced more and more. By alleging “forced cottonpicking by ethnic minorities”, certain people are defiling the speckless cotton in Xinjiang and maligning socioeconomic progress in the region.
“They are trying to fabricate lies like ‘forced labor’ to create ‘forced industrial decoupling’ and ‘forced unemployment’ in Xinjiang to suppress Chinese companies and industries to serve their malicious agenda to mess up Xinjiang and contain China.
“In Xinjiang, there are only voluntary employment and free choice in the labor market. Workers of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang choose profession of their own free will, sign labor contracts with employers voluntarily following the principle of equality and receive payment for their work
“This is in accordance with China’s Constitution and laws and conforms to international labor and human rights standards,” she stressed, adding that in developing countries like Pakistan, Egypt and Malaysia, there are more and more objective and impartial reports on Xinjiang.
As Western media are flooded with smears against Xinjiang, these objective and just voices are even more commendable, she said.
According to Huang, Xinjiang accounts for 1/6 of China’s total land area. Every year, hundreds of millions of domestic and international tourists flock to Xinjiang for its vast territory, abundant resources and exquisite scenery.
Especially with arduous efforts, Xinjiang has been ushered in economic development, social stability, improved people’s livelihood, cultural prosperity, ethnic unity and religious harmony.
The government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, she stressed, works constantly to meet the people’s needs for a better life and to improve their senses of achievement, happiness and security.
Xinjiang people also enjoy freedom of religious belief, she said, adding that there are more than 13 million Muslims in Xinjiang and according to China’s Constitution, citizens are entitled to freedom of religious belief.
There are about 24,400 mosques in Xinjiang, which means one mosque for every 530 Muslims, she said and disclosed that in recent years, some local governments, responding to local Muslim community’s call and application, took measures including building new facilities, relocation and extending existing buildings to make mosques safer, better situated and cleaner to the satisfaction of believers, she said.
Huang also said that the inheritance and development of minority language and culture are promoted as well in Xinjiang, besides the teaching of national common language and characters carried out in the whole region. Xinjiang has opened courses in primary and secondary schools, including Uyghur, Kazakh, Kirgiz, Mongolian and Xibo languages, which fully guarantees the rights of minority students to learn their own language and words.
The language and words of various ethnic minorities in Xinjiang are widely used in education, justice, administration, social and public affairs.
“For example, there are 12 radio programs in five languages in Xinjiang People’s Radio Station: Han, Uyghur, Kazak, Mongolia and Kirgiz; there are 12 TV programs in four languages in Xinjiang TV station: Han, Uyghur, Kazak and Kirgiz. All these provide great convenience for the people of all ethnic groups in daily life in Xinjiang,” she said.
The Chinese government, according to Huang, attaches great importance to the protection and development of the excellent traditional culture of all ethnic groups. In recent years, Xinjiang has been actively collecting, protecting and rescuing ancient books of various ethnic groups.
“It has translated and published the endangered Kutadgu Bilig (Wisdom of Fortune and Joy), sorted out and published Mongolian epic Janger and other folk literature works and established three national productive protection and demonstration bases for intangible cultural heritage projects, including Uyghur musical instruments, carpets and Etles silk. Uyghur Muqam Arts and Kirgiz epic Manas have been listed in UNESCO’s “representative list of human intangible cultural heritage” and “list of intangible cultural heritage in urgent need of protection,” she said.
The Chief Minister of Sabah, Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor, as well as some other Cabinet ministers and State legislative assemblymen/women visited China. All these visits have given rise to the exchanges and cooperation on the local level between our two sides. Dr Huang Shifang