All of a sudden, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in Northwest China found itself caught in the frontline of a public opinion war between China and the West, which were on two entirely different pages.
Xinjiang’s governance mechanism in recent years is both legitimate and morally justifiable, as it is targeted at solving pressing problems and restoring peace and stability, which is the basis of safeguarding human rights. Terrorist attacks frequently battered Xinjiang in the earlier years, when the actual severity of the situation in the region was much more serious than what the media had revealed. The tensions transpiring in the region put lives of the locals at a greater risk than those in the rest of the country, and dealt a heavy blow to social order. Terrorism also crushed local tourism and other industries, and made human rights unattainable.
To reverse the situation, the Xinjiang society has put great efforts — and paid huge prices — in the quest for de-radicalization. Most government officials in Xinjiang were sent to villages to disburse their duties starting from the very basic level of society, something few people would be willing to do under normal circumstances. Xinjiang has endured such an unusual period.The US and Western public opinion war against Xinjiang was based on Western human rights standards and their value system. The West does not care about the urgent problems gripping Xinjiang, and even denies the terrorist nature of the violent attacks taking place in the region. It is always easier said than done! There are even some forces that gloat over Xinjiang’s turmoil and want to burden China with the crisis stemming from the region.
It is difficult to engage in a debate in such circumstances. The West blatantly distorts and smears the governance of Xinjiang in their public opinion environment, which due to their wider reach often leads to extremely negative influence.
However, what Xinjiang is now witnessing is in sharp contrast with what the West has depicted. Peace and stability have been deeply entrenched in the region. Tourism has resumed and is growing at a rapid pace. It has been made possible thanks to the success of the de-radicalization work with the vocational education and training centers at its helm.
I have stated in several articles that the high-intensity governance of Xinjiang in recent years is not an ideal situation, and the training centers are unprecedented measures designed for the specific era. Those measures were politically well-intended and have yielded good results by preventing thousands of deaths and saving the facets of Xinjiang’s social fabric from crumbling like a second Chechnya. Xinjiang has seen not a single case of terrorist attack for three years, which means neither any civilian life is lost nor any terrorist killed for justice. Positive change as it is will script the real meaning of human rights.
Human rights are neither an empty slogan that the entire world can be painted with without considering specific conditions, nor a double-standard geopolitical game.
Global Times reporters and commentators have been resolutely engaged in a public opinion war, presenting the outside world with the real facts and pragmatic logic of the human rights situation in Xinjiang from the very heart of the autonomous region. They also know the outside world well and have explored for a common ground for the distinct Chinese and Western narratives.
All the articles in this book were written by Global Times staff reporters with dedication and love for the motherland and for people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and with persistence trying to awaken more from Western propaganda. I must say, as I write this foreword, I can attest that we have done our part to the fullest.
Hu Xijin
Editor-in-Chief, Global Times
