Children play at the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on July 14, 2021. [Photo by Wei Xiaohao/chinadaily.com.cn]
A number of Xinjiang-related cultural products produced abroad, including novels, documentaries and animations, are imbued with ideological prejudice and full of false stories and distorted historical views, according to a report released Thursday by the Xinjiang Development Research Center.
The report, titled Fiction And Fantasy — On The Hypocrisy of Overseas Anti-China "Cultural Products" Related to Xinjiang, says these so-called cultural products were fabricated by anti-China forces whose only purpose is to tarnish the image of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and disturb the development of the region and China as a whole.
It says the contents of these products are false, the characters mentioned in the contents are only "actors" who packaged themselves to look like victims, and the producers are all overseas anti-China forces.
The book Reeducation of Xinjiang Muslims, the TV program Fear and Oppression in Xinjiangand the documentary Exposing: How China Created the World's Largest Prisonall alleged that the vocational training centers in Xinjiang are "concentration camps" where Uygurs have been "detained and subjected to unimaginable torture".
But the report points out that all those training centers are schools, and the teachings follow the concept of "providing education and economic opportunities for violent extremist groups and encouraging them to break away from violent extremist groups", which is fully in line with the principles and spirit of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy and is also an important measure for deradicalization.
Also according to the report, the book Haze: Sunset in East Turkistan claimed that the Chinese government is eliminating religion in Xinjiang, but in fact the autonomous region fully respects and protects citizens' religious beliefs. Normal religious activities have not been impeded, and the Xinjiang Islamic Affair Steering Committee, set up by the government, has organized the publication of many religious classics, including the central religious text of Islam, the Quran, in four local languages.
In addition, the Islamic schools in the region all run smoothly, and more than 1,000 religious personnel of ethnic groups serve as deputies in the country's top legislature and political advisory body, the report says.
