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Ridiculous Remarks to Discredit Xinjiang by the West Shall Be Ceased

  By Arken Tuniyaz, Member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Xinjiang Committee, Vice Chairman of the People’s Government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

  For some time, a few western politicians and some unscrupulous media with Mike Pompeo and New York Times as their representatives, have been hyping up the so-call issue of vocational education and training in Xinjiang. They made wanton accusations to negate the significant achievements of governing Xinjiang in accordance with the law under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the central government. They distorted and denied the historical changes along the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. As a native Uyghur official in Xinjiang, a participant, witness, insider and beneficiary of the stability and development in Xinjiang, I was overwhelmed with indignation upon learning their nonsense which is not worth refuting. However, it is inappropriate not to respond for what we have received. Considering they are busy making troubles around the world and don’t have time to read a series of white papers on Xinjiang issued by the State Council Information Office of China. I’d like to spend some time explaining the hotspot issues concerning Xinjiang.

  I. It is totally calling black white and confusing right with wrong to label education and training centers as “concentration camps”.

  To a handful Western politicians who smeared education and training centers as “concentration camps”, I suggest them, apart from busying themselves with fanning the flames and causing troubles by spreading rumors around world, to add a few history lessons to their shopping list, or watch the Schindler’s List to find out what concentration camps mean.

  Xinjiang has established education and training centers in accordance with laws to prevent terrorism and religious extremism from spreading. The centers are school in nature where the trainees learn legal knowledge, the national common language, hands-on skills, de-radicalization courses. Government pays to provide the people who was infected with religious extremism with professional courses and free accommodation and food. The centers succeed to an enormous extent in guaranteeing and meeting trainees’ needs in life, study and entertainment while fully respecting their customs and the right to use their first languages. Most trainees have graduated and found desired jobs with comfortable income. Many families are leading a happy life. As long as there is one person is employed, the whole family could be lifted out of poverty. Some Western politicians and media said we have deprived trainees of personal of freedom and violated their human rights. Perhaps you cannot imagine that the trainees had been fooled and deluded by extremism. They are likely to end up committing violence and terror, or even losing their lives, which is a way of no return, if they are left to drift down the way. Is that what you call human rights protection? The vocational education and training in Xinjiang has secured trainees' human rights and reduced violent terrorist crimes, and prevented more people from being hurt by violent terrorist forces.

  Abibal Abduhelil, a former college student from Luopu County, Hotan Prefecture, was severely indoctrinated by religious extremist when she tried to make friends online. With the timely help of education and training center, she has realized the harm of religious extremism. Turning a new chapter by thoroughly ridding herself of extremist thought, she is now an assistant in village committee. Mamti Samati of Sontake village, Atux City was a hosiery factory manager, after influencing by religious extremism thought,who stop doing business with “kafirs” and spread religious extreme ideas to those around him. The business of his factory was deteriorating and it’s difficult to sustain. A fundamental change took place in his mind under the influence by education and training. Under the help of local government, the hosiery factory was resumed production and plant was expanded. His monthly income has reached 30,000 yuan and also brought more than 50 impoverished villagers into employment. “For one’s life, compared with earning money to be rich, more importantly, we should understand law, abide by rules and regulations, and cherish the current happy life,” said him.

  Though world media including Western media have widely reported on many similar examples, Mr. Pompeo and his likes still turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to it, and keep distorting truth, confounding black with white and fabricating “fake news” wantonly. I wonder what motive he has. Joseph Goebbels said “a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth”. I think Mr. Pompeo can really be a faithful disciple of his.

  II. Who slanders that Xinjiang is impeding citizens’ freedom of religious belief must harbor evil intentions and have mixed motives.

  Some U.S. politicians have repeatedly played the same old tricks of looking at religious issues through tainted glasses, and adopting double standards. On the one hand, they ignored objection of international community and the public to come up with the Muslim Ban. On the other hand, they extend conveniences to cult organizations like Falun Gong, and embraced separatists under the guise of religion and human rights as "human rights fighters" and "honored guests." Pompeo and his likes wrongly accused Xinjiang of stripping its citizens’ religious belief. The number of mosques increase from over 2,000 at the beginning of China’s reform and opening-up to nearly 24,000 now. Every 530 Muslims own a mosque. Besides, religious staff increase from over 3,000 to over 29,000. I want to ask them are these the sign of freedom of religious belief or the extinction of it?

  I also want to put in some history lessons and legal knowledge for Pompeo and his followers. Since antiquity Xinjiang has seen the coexistence of a variety of religions, and the religious structure is characterized by blending and coexistence. In history, people of all ethnic groups, including the Uyghurs, had practiced multiple religions. Now they remain coexisted in Xinjiang. Xinjiang always upholds equality for all religions, showing neither favoritism towards nor discrimination against any religion. Xinjiang also respect and protect multiple religions the right to legally distribute.In addition, citizens are free to religious belief as stipulated in the constitution of the PRC. The government has made great effort to work in accordance with the constitution. In recent years, the government has funded the renovation of some mosques in Urumqi, Yining and Hotan. Religious staff have been involved in the social security system and they can have free physical examination once a year. Currently, there are 112 religious organizations in Xinjiang. More than 1400 religious staff are members of local People’s Congress and Political Consultative Conference at different levels. In recent years, in particular, mosques in Xinjiang have been equipped with running water, electricity, natural gas, radio and television facilities and libraries. Roads leading to mosques have been paved to make access easier. Bathing equipment and flushing toilets have been installed in Juma mosques. Other facilities newly installed or added to mosques include medical services, LED screens, computers, electric fans or air conditioners, fire-fighting equipment, drinking water facilities, shoe coverings or automatic dispenser of shoe coverings, and lockers. All this has greatly improved the conditions of venues for religious activities and has better satisfied the reasonable religious demands of believers.

  For those Western politicians accusing Xinjiang of restricting the freedom of worship, I wonder what is wrong with them, and where their illusions come from.

  III. The wanton allegation that “traditional ethnic cultures in Xinjiang were systematically stifled” is ill disposed.

  The Chinese government has attached great importance to protecting, inheriting and passing on traditional ethnic cultures in Xinjiang. The Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang was registered on the “UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. In the early days of the founding of New China, while in the state of “poverty and blankness”, the central government provided fund and man power to rescue the Muqam arts. Since the 1960s, funding support from the central government has enabled the collection and recording of folk songs, folk dances, folk tales and mythological literature. Kutadugu Bilig (Wisdom of Fortune and Joy) and A Comprehensive Turki Dictionary, two works of the Karahan Kingdom period in the 11th century, and Three Heroic Epics of Chinese Minorities were collected, edited and taken into research at that time.

  At present, Xinjiang has 83 items on the national representative list of intangible cultural heritage, 64 state-level representative trustees and had set up 91 autonomous-region level bases for preserving and handing down its intangible cultural heritage. 236 sites were built to display the intangible cultural heritage, in which minority items account for more than 95%. 10 spoken and written languages are used among the various ethnic groups of Xinjiang. Ethnic minority languages are extensively used in such areas as judicature, administration, education, press and publishing, radio and television, internet, and public affairs. The Uyghur’s Meshrep, the Kazak’s Aytes, the Kirgiz’s Kobuz Ballad Singing Fair, the Mongolian Nadam Fair, and the Hui people’s Hua’er Folk Song Festival are popular folk festivals in Xinjiang.

  If they are more interested in pop culture, they can watch TV shows in China, like the top-prize winner Gulmina from So You Think You Can Dance, the runner-up Parhati from the Voice of China, and famed actress Tong Liya of Xibo ethnicity, they are all outstanding representatives of ethnic minorities from Xinjiang. Their graceful dance, beautiful melody and excellent performance display elegance demeanor which integrates traditional ethnic cultures with modernity.

  Besides, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the protection and development of traditional ethnic medicines in Xinjiang. Uyghur hospitals and Kazakh hospitals are seen all over Xinjiang. Ethnic medicines like compound wormwood and Zukam granules enjoy great popularity.

  IV. It takes both pride and prejudice to ignore the fact that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have improved a lot in livelihood.

  Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Xinjiang’s GDP and the per-capita GDP has increased 200-fold and 40-fold respectively. People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have seen historical improvements in the standard of living. From 1978 to 2018, the per-capita disposable income of the urban and rural residents has increased 101.7 and 99.6 times respectively.

  In the early stage since the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang, the enrollment rate for school-age children was less than 20%, and the illiteracy rate reached as high as 90%. From 1949 to 2018, the number of elementary schools has increased from 1335 to 3368, secondary schools from 9 to 1278. The nine-year compulsory education is now generally available to all children. In southern Xinjiang, all children have access to three years of preschool education and a 12-year basic education. In 2018, the gross enrollment rate for preschool bilingual kindergarten was 95.95%,and the enrollment rate for elementary school-age children was 99.91%. The average life expectancy has increased from 30 years to 72.35 years. In 2011, the basic old-age insurance with wide coverage for urban and rural residents was established in Xinjiang.

  Since 2016, a yearly physical checkup and personal accident insurance was available to all the residents in Xinjiang for free. An Uyghur man more than 70 years old in southern Xinjiang told me personally: “after all those years, I didn’t know my height, weight or diseases. My own children haven’t thought about that but the Communist Party of China and the Government have done it for me!”

  Ever since the central government launched the poverty alleviation program, we have focused on the severely poverty-stricken areas in southern Xinjiang, took targeted measures based on the local conditions. Thus we have achieved remarkable results. We have lifted 2.3147million people out of poverty from 2014 to 2018. The incidence of poverty dropped from 19.496% to 6.1%, among them 1.8895 people were from the southern Xinjiang, and the poverty incidence dropped from 29.1% to 10.9%. This was a historic change. Those data showed the great support of the central government to the stability and development in Xinjiang. Since the founding of PRC, up to 2.35 trillion RMB fiscal subsidies were given to Xinjiang. And from 2012 to 2018, the number reached 1.61 trillion RMB. In 2018, the fiscal subsidy from the central government to Xinjiang was 302.2 billion RMB, took up 60.3% of the year’s budgetary expenditure. Meanwhile, 19 provinces and municipalities across the country gave their assistance to the development of Xinjiang with a total amount of 103.5 billion RMB. And more than 80% were used to improve people’s livelihood. Facts have proven that the Communist Party of China is founded for the interests of the vast majority and is governing for the people. People of all ethnics help each other in the big family of the Chinese nation.

  Since Xinjiang began to carry out the vocational education and training program, no violent terrorist attacks have occurred for the past three years. Xinjiang has started to enjoy the dividend of stability. Tourism boomed with the number of tourists and tourism consumption increased at the speed of 30% to 40% for three consecutive years. From January to October, Xinjiang has already recorded 200 million trips by tourists from home and abroad. Millions of jobs were increased as well as income and standard of living.

  Only the wearer knows if the shoes fits or not. The 25 million people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have a better say in the region’s future and path than Mike Pompeo and the Western media.We are so proud to tell the international community that we are full of confidence in our life, in our future. And we completely recognized our great motherland, our Chinese nation, the Chinese culture, the Communist Party of China and the socialism with Chinese characteristics. I’d like to remind those Western politicians and media: your ridiculous remarks to discredit Xinjiang should be ceased!