Daily Times

After “white paper of fact checks” that exposed 23 lies as reprehensibly engineered and fake, China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has come clean on the face of earth.

This development has strengthened Xinjiang’s soft image of good ethics, rule of law, freedom of impression, human rights and level-playing field to all disregarding all forms of prejudices based on ethnicity, minority, religion, class, affiliation and creed. Lies may mislead people for a while, but cannot win the trust of the world. Facts and truthfulness eventually bust all lies.

Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights, ethnicity or religion at all, but about combating violent terrorism and separatism. The Chinese government has launched anti-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts in Xinjiang in accordance with the law to protect people’s lives, which has garnered ardent support of people from all ethnic groups. People in the region continue to embrace peace and prosperity and Xinjiang society continues to develop steadily. These facts are the most powerful tool to debunk lies surrounding Xinjiang.

Out of 23 lies propagated viciously, one lie is that US former sectary of state Mike Pompeo claimed that the Chinese government had committed “genocide” against Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. Fact check is that in recent years, the Uygur population in Xinjiang has been growing steadily. From 2010 to 2018, the Uygur population in Xinjiang rose from 10.17 million to 12.72 million, an increase of 2.55 million or 25.04 percent. The growth rate of the Uygur population is not only higher than that of Xinjiang’s total population, which is 13.99 percent, but also higher than that of all ethnic minority groups, which is 22.14 percent, let alone the Han population’s 2 percent.

Xinjiang enjoys social stability, with the people living and working in peace and contentment. The region has made unprecedented achievements in economic and social development and improvement of people’s livelihood. From 2014 to 2019, the GDP of Xinjiang increased from 919.59 billion yuan to 1.36 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 7.2 percent. The per capita disposable income in Xinjiang increased by an average annual rate of 9.1 percent. Remarkable achievements have been made in poverty alleviation. All 3.09 million impoverished people in Xinjiang have been lifted out of poverty. The absolute poverty problem in Xinjiang has been resolved historically.

In reply to fifth lie that Xinjiang sets up “re-education camps” to detain millions of Uygur Muslims, fact check is that Xinjiang has never had any so-called “re-education camps.”

The legitimate rights and interests of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have been protected. All ethnic groups, regardless of their population, have the same legal status and enjoy various rights in accordance with the law, including participation in the management of state affairs, freedom of religious belief, receiving education, using their own languages, and preserving their traditional culture.

Second lie is that Adrian Zenz released reports claiming Xinjiang has carried out “forced sterilization” on the Uygur women, resulting in a sharp decline in the Uygur population. Fact check is that Adrian Zenz’s “reports” are full of fabrications and data manipulation. The so-called evidence of “forced sterilization” in the “reports” claims that 80 percent of the new intrauterine device (IUD) insertion procedures in China for 2018 were performed in Xinjiang and that the natural population growth rate in Hotan and Kashgar of Xinjiang in 2018 was only 2.58 per 1,000 people. The “evidence” is extremely inconsistent with the facts.

BBC Newsnight once reported that Zumrat Dawut (Zamira Dawut) was “forced to go through sterilization” in a vocational education and training center. 3rd fact check is that Zamira Dawut has never studied in any vocational education and training center. Her elder brother Abduhelil Dawut has previously clarified that.

As per 4th lie in interviews with foreign media, Mihrigul Tursun said that she was forced to take unknown medications in a vocational education and training center and was diagnosed as infertile by American doctors. And truth is that On April 21, 2017, Mihrigul Tursun was taken into custody by the public security bureau of Qiemo County on suspicion of inciting ethnic hatred and discrimination. During this period, she was found to have infectious diseases such as syphilis. Out of humanitarian consideration, the county public security bureau terminated the measures against her on May 10, 2017. Except the 20 days of criminal detention, Mihrigul was totally free while in China. She was never sentenced, nor did she study in any vocational education and training center, let alone being forced to take medications. There are no records of her undergoing a sterilization procedure in China.

In reply to fifth lie that Xinjiang sets up “re-education camps” to detain millions of Uygur Muslims, fact check is that Xinjiang has never had any so-called “re-education camps.”

The vocational education and training centers established in Xinjiang in accordance with the law are education and training institutions in nature and are preventive counter-terrorism and deradicalization measures taken by Xinjiang. The vocational education and training centers offered a curriculum that included standard spoken and written Chinese, understanding of the law and training in vocational skills to achieve the goal of deradicalization. By October 2019, all the trainees in such centers had completed their studies and graduated, and most of them have found stable jobs and lived a peaceful life.

Lie six says that Xinjiang vocational education and training centers exercised “religious control,” political indoctrination, intimidation and torture over the trainees. Contrary to this, fact is that the vocational education and training centers fully respected and protected trainees’ freedom of religious belief, ethnic customs and habits, and the right to use their own ethnic spoken and written languages. In the face of some overseas Uygur people’s claim that “their relatives or friends in Xinjiang cannot be contacted and have gone missing” on overseas media and social media platforms, fact check is that Xinjiang protects the freedom of travel of people of all ethnic groups, including the Uygurs, and their communication with overseas relatives according to law. Verification with relevant departments shows that some allegedly “missing” people, mentioned by the “East Turkistan” separatists overseas, are living a normal life, while other “missing” incident reports are pure fabrications.

Eight lie is that Xinjiang uses the coronavirus to wipe out Uygurs, with many tragic deaths after infection. Fact check reveals that since the COVID-19 outbreak, Xinjiang has resolutely fought against the virus and effectively contained the epidemic within a short period. With the support of the expert team from the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism, the local government made all-out efforts to treat patients. The regional government adopted a targeted prevention and control approach with differentiated, scientific measures. It also strengthened epidemic prevention and control in places such as crowded and key venues to minimize the risk of virus spread. Thanks to concerted efforts, all 826 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Xinjiang have been discharged from hospital after treatment, without even a single death.

The writer is freelance journalist