South Xinjiang residents get lectures on ethnic unity

University students in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have been delivering lectures on ethnic solidarity and policies to local residents in southern Xinjiang, a move to further unify the region, experts said.

The training sessions are being conducted in four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, going deep into villages to spread traditional Chinese culture and the latest technologies, Xinjiang-based newspaper City Consumer Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

More than 200 students from Xinjiang University have organized 500 lectures from early July to mid-August on various themes, including ethnic solidarity, China’s opening-up and reform policies, traditional Chinese culture and the importance of knowledge. Some 150,000 local residents attended the lectures, the report said.

Other lectures focused on popularizing science and technology.

“Students from Xinjiang University came to our village and explained the government’s policies and played games with us. We are very happy,” the newspaper quoted local resident Abduwali Abdukadir as saying.

“Religious and ethnic issues are relatively sensitive and complicated in South Xinjiang, and students’ social practices will greatly contribute to ethnic solidarity,” Xiong Kunxin, a professor on ethnic studies at Minzu University of China in Beijing said on Thursday.

Xiong said that their contribution is not limited to the spread of China’s ethnic policies, but also in how they can befriend local people and better understand each other.

“Southern Xinjiang is a region that is less developed in many ways. It is important for local people to expand their horizons to overcome poverty,” Xiong said.

A unity week campaign conducted by Xinjiang since 2017 has seen cadres and employees from government and institutes across the region live together with their foster families in grass-roots villages and communities of different ethnic groups.

Southern Xinjiang is mainly populated by Uyghurs. For instance, more than 96 percent of the population in Hotan is Uyghur, according to the Hotan government website.