The Borneo Post (Sabah)

‘China contribute­s greatly to Sabah’s economy’

- Nancy Lai

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

 ?? ?? Huang (seated fifth from left) with members of the media who attended the briefing.
Huang (seated fifth from left) with members of the media who attended the briefing.

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