Tourism ‘proves all is well in Uighur region’

BOOMING tourism in China’s far western Xinjiang shows that all is good there, China’s foreign ministry said yesterday, amid growing international concern for human rights in the heavily Muslim region.

Hundreds of people have been killed in Xinjiang in recent years in unrest between the Uighur minority that calls the region home and members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority. Reports of mass detentions and strict surveillance of Uighurs have led to a growing international outcry.

Michelle Bachelet , the UN human rights chief, has called on China to allow in monitors, while the US considers sanctions against those accused of rights abuses in Xinjiang.

China rejected all accusations of mistreatment in Xinjiang, but said it had to stop separatism and militancy.

Speaking at a news briefing in Beijing, Geng Shuang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said Xinjiang was stable, its economy was developing well.

“If Xinjiang were not safe, stable and harmonious, then there would not be so many Chinese and foreign tourists going to Xinjiang for sightseeing,” Geng said. “I think that this proves Xinjiang’s current good situation.”