The Ethnic Minorities in Xinjiang Fully Enjoy Stability, Prosperity and Religious Freedom

0N OCTOBER 8, the Star published an article by a reader named Nilofar Dawood on Xinjiang, China, which blatantly attacked China's human rights and religious policies. It is not difficult to find that obviously this person has never been to China, let alone understanding the real situation in Xinjiang. Facts speak louder than words. The US, if looks in its own mirror, is in no position to accuse China's human rights and religious freedom. The ethnic minorities in Xinjiang enjoy full freedom of religious belief. There are 24,400 mosques in Xinjiang, China, more than twice the number of mosques in the United States (about 2,000), Britain (about 1,750), Germany (about 3,000) and France (about 2,500) combined. There is one mosque for every 560 Muslims in Xinjiang, which is impossible in any other country in the world. According to statistics, since the 1990s, ethnic separatist, religious extremist and violent terrorist forces in Xinjiang have masterminded and carried out thousands of explosions, assassinations, poisoning, arson, attacks, and riots, etc., killing a large number of innocent people and hundreds of policemen and causing immeasurable property loss. This is the gravest trample on human rights in Xinjiang. To this, the Chinese government has no choice but to roll out innovative measures to address both the symptoms and root causes of terrorism. On the one hand, China has taken resolute measures to combat terrorist activities and maintain stability. On the other hand, China has been providing vocational training for local young people. In the past nearly three years, there have been no violent or terrorist incidents in Xinjiang. Religious extremism has been effectively curbed. Public security has been improved significantly. Ethnic equality and unity has been maintained. All people in Xinjiang fully enjoy the freedom of religious belief and live in peace and harmony. In 2018, Xinjiang's tourism developed rapidly, receiving more than 150 million domestic and foreign tourists, registering a 40% year-on-year increase, and the number is expected to exceed 200 million this year. Xinjiang's GDP growth rate in 2018 is 8.3%, surpassing the national level. Seeing is believing. Since the beginning of this year, diplomatic envoys from a lot of countries and over 40 delegations composed of nearly 1,000 people from political parties, NG0s, the media and religious organizations of some countries have visited Xinjiang. Through field visits, they learned about the truth, highly appreciated Xinjiang's innovative counter-terrorism practices, and made positive comments on the prosperity, stability and religious freedom enjoyed by Xinjiang under the rule of law. We are proud to say that under the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, the economic aggregate of Xinjiang grew from 791 million yuan RMB in 1952 to 1.2 trillion yuan RMB in 2018. By the end of next year, 1.4 billion Chinese people, including the people in Xinjiang will shake off poverty. Justice will prevail. Recently, 51 countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bolivia and other Asian, African and Latin American countries, including many member states of the 01C(the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), co-signed a letter to the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council and UN high Commissioner for Human Rights, making positive comments on the development of the human rights cause and the achievements of counter-terrorism and deradicalisation in Xinjiang and firmly opposing the politicization of the human rights issue by the US and some other western countries. This is undoubtedly a persuasive response to the groundless accusations made by a few western countries led by the US against China. Chairman Mao Zedong, the great leader of China, once said that "no investigation, no right to say". Making remarks that are inconsistent with the facts at will or act as blind follower of others reveals one's own ignorance and surely harms one's own dignity and credibility. It is our sincere hope that Nilofar Dawood will learn to be a person of integrity and good faith instead of a blind follower. - Zheng Yi