BEIJING: Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Vladimir Norov and diplomats from over 20 countries including Pakistan have been visiting northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from March 30 to April 2, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday.
More than 30 diplomats and officials from over 20 countries including Pakistan, Russia, Iran and Nepal visited Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi, Kashgar and Aksu on the tour, Hua said during her regular briefing held here.
They visited an exhibition on counter-terrorism and de-radicalization, the International Grand Bazaar Urumqi, the Kashgar Old Town, the Aitigaer Mosque, a water station serving rural areas in Jiashi County and a memorial for the greening project in Kekeya.
Through these site visits, the group saw with their own eyes how Xinjiang enjoys unprecedented social stability, ethnic and religious harmony and steady economic growth, she added.
The spokesperson said, the delegation toured several large companies, visited local Uyghur families and learned how the region realized remarkable economic development, improved living standards and protected human rights on the basis of maintaining stability.
They also expressed readiness to promote cooperation between their countries and Xinjiang, in particular in counter-terrorism, de-radicalization and trade, she added.
Hua Chunying informed that today at noon, the delegation attended an interactive session themed “Xinjiang is a wonderful place”, where Shohrat Zakir, Chairman of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and representatives from various sectors in the region held exchanges with them.
At the session, Secretary-General Norov and many ambassadors and other diplomats shared their thoughts from the visit and said seeing is believing. They said what they saw proves that the allegations by certain countries of so-called human rights violations, religious discrimination and forced labor are simply groundless and the allegation of “genocide” is even more preposterous.
Chen Quanguo, member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee also met with the delegation and gave a full account of the region’s social and economic progress.
“As I just stated, through this visit, the group got to know the truth about Xinjiang, a region that enjoys social stability, economic growth and ethnic unity. These outcomes are truly hard-won,” she added.
She said, with unrelenting efforts, today the region has not seen a violent terrorist case for more than four consecutive years. It has achieved high quality social and economic development. However, certain anti-China forces would not give up and fabricated all sorts of lies, rumors and disinformation with no scruples whatsoever.
They produced false allegations such as “forced labor” and “genocide” to serve their strategic conspiracy of destabilizing Xinjiang and containing China’s development. They have even turned to make an issue out of Xinjiang cotton.
“We sincerely welcome people from various sectors in foreign countries to visit Xinjiang and see the beautiful scenery, people’s happy life and the region’s economic development,” she added.
The members of the delegation made positive comments on China’s achievement on counter-terrorism and hoped that the Chinese government will continue to take tough measures against terrorism and extremism.
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