Razwan Aibay, former deputy chairman of All-China Women’s Federation and former deputy chairman of CPPCC Xinjiang Committee

Recently, completely disregarding facts, Mike Pompeo, the lamest US Secretary of State in history, before leaving office, attempted to incite hatred, create disturbance and deliberately smear Xinjiang with his malicious lies. His sinister remarks are an abrasive interference with China’s domestic affairs, a gross violation of international laws and fundamental principles of international relations and a serious harm to the feelings of people in Xinjiang. My family and I feel indignant about his base conducts.

Only people in Xinjiang have the final word on the truth of Xinjiang. Instead of being problems concerning ethnicity, religion or basic human rights, the so-called “Xinjiang-related issues” are essentially a matter of anti-terrorism and anti-secession. Over a long time, Xinjiang has been afflicted with separatist forces, extremist forces and terrorist forces. The frequent terrorist attacks inflicted a serious damage on the security of people’s lives and properties and the social lives suffered a retrogression and disorder. The improvements of people’s livelihood and social progress could not be achieved without peace and stability. Confronted with existing threats of terrorism and extremism, learning from the practices of the international community in fighting against terrorism and eradicating religious extremism, Xinjiang spared no efforts in rooting out the incubators of terrorism and extremism and in protecting the basic civil rights from any possible infringement by adopting anti-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in accordance with the law. It has been proved that consistent with realities of Xinjiang, these measures have turned out to be productive in containing extremism, improving social order and guaranteeing the basic human rights of people in Xinjiang. However, Pompeo falsely alleged that Xinjiang built concentration camps to detain and persecute millions of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities. His accusation was utterly groundless and nonsensical.

Facts speak louder than words. With the joint efforts of all people in Xinjiang, social stability is restored, rapid growth is taking place and people are living a happier and better life today. No terrorist incidents occurred in the past four years. Even criminal cases, public security cases, crimes endangering public security and public safety incidents showed a drastic dip in the same period. From 2014 to 2019, the gross domestic product in Xinjiang grew at an average annual rate of 7.2% from 919.59 billion yuan to 1.35971 trillion yuan and the per capita disposable income of Xinjiang residents grew at an annual average rate of 9.1%. Under the current standard, 3.0649 million impoverished households, 3,666 poor villages and 32 poor counties have all been lifted out of poverty in Xinjiang. A decisive victory was achieved in poverty alleviation in Xinjiang. The social insurance system in Xinjiang is being increasingly improved, with free physical examination and basic medical insurance covering all Xinjiang residents. The achievements in reform and development of education are impartially benefiting more people in Xinjiang. The gross enrollment ratios hit a record high for preschool education, the nine-year compulsory education, senior high education and higher education. People in Xinjiang are best qualified to speak on the rapid progress in Xinjiang.

Having told various lies continuously, Pompeo alleged that “population of ethnic groups was restrained and genocide was practiced over Uyghur in Xinjiang”. This is sheer nonsense. Since the foundation of PRC, Chinese government has initiated a family planning program by law among all people, but at the same time adopted a comparatively looser policy for ethnic minorities in terms of the number of children they may bear, considering a coordinated sustainable development of population of ethnic minorities. In 2017, with rapid economic growth, social progress and converging outlook for childbirth among people of different ethnic groups, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Regulations on Population and Family Planning was amended, stipulating a universal family panning policy for people of different ethnicities, i.e., 2 children for urban dwellers and 3 children for rural couples. According to statistics, from 2010 to 2018, the permanent resident population rose from 21.8158 million to 24.8676 million, an increase of 3.0518 million, up 13.99%; ethic minorities population in Xinjiang grew from 12.9859 million to 15.8608 million, an increase of 2.8749 million, up 22.14%; Uyghur population grew from 10.1715 million to 12.7184 million, an increase of 2.5469 million, up 25.04%; the population of Han grew from 8.8299 million to 9.0068 million, an increase of 176,900, up 2.0%. The growth rate of Uyghur population is not only higher than that of Xinjiang as a whole, but also higher than that of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and much higher than that of Han people in Xinjiang. In the midst of practicing the family planning policy, late-stage abortion, mandatory sterilization and forced pregnancy check have been strictly forbidden. Whether to take any contraceptive measures and what measures to take are decided by themselves, free from interference of any organization or individual. Therefore, there is no such a thing called “mandatory sterilization”. Facing facts and truth, the so-called “genocide” is nothing but a baseless gossip or another farce to smear and slander China.

Pompeo’s accusation of Xinjiang “suppressing religious freedom by depriving ethnic minorities of their rights of belief was sheer smear and slander. In Xinjiang, all citizens have the right to decide their religious belief, free from the interference or discrimination of any organization or individual.Normal religious activities conducted at home, in temples or mosques conforming to their own religious customs are decided by religious communion or individuals and protected by law, subject to no interference of any organization or individuals. Xinjiang Islamic Institute was established to cultivate competent religious personnel to meet the needs of religious believers. The practices of Xinjiang in respecting and protecting freedom of religious belief were highly appraised by the international community including Muslim nations.

As a female cadre born and bred in Xinjiang, participating in the building and development of Xinjiang, I also witnessed earthshaking changes that have taken place in Xinjiang, the progress of the cause of women and children in particular. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Fundamentals for Development of Women and Children guaranteed development of women and children from seven and five domains respectively. Since the sudden epidemic outbreak in 2020, with strong support from the central government, Xinjiang has successfully ensured life safety of all people in Xinjiang by effectively containing the spread of epidemic. Turning a blind eye to all these facts, Pompeo attempted to sour the ethnic relations, disrupt stability and curb the growth of Xinjiang by spreading rumors and slanders on Xinjiang-related issues to confuse the public.

History shall finally unmask Pompeo, a contemptible scoundrel pursuing a double standard and an unscrupulous politician hindering human civilization and progress. His attempts to interfere in internal affairs of China shall never deceive peace-loving people in the world while his sinister motives shall end up in failure.