White cannot be called black in Xinjiang

The China-skeptics in the United States are at it again. This time they are using the pretext of human rights violation to criticize China's policy of combating terrorism and separatism in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and improving the livelihoods of the people there. But by so doing, they have exposed their ulterior motives, not least because they have no evidence to prove their allegations, and thus become the target of both ridicule and anger.

This group of people has always claimed it wants to "help" China further the human rights cause while, ironically, not paying any attention to the US' horrible human rights record. Which makes people wonder whether the American people elected those "patriots" to "make America great again", or just to poke their nose into other countries' internal affairs.

As we Chinese say, seeing is believing and ignorance spreads rumor. The US is thousands of kilometers away from Xinjiang, and few of those finger-in-every-pie China-skeptics have actually visited this part of the world. Yet they accept as true rumors about Xinjiang that some people have made it their job to spread.

Despite repeated invitations from the central and local governments to foreign dignitaries, envoys and journalists to visit Xinjiang, the publication of ample reports, data, photographs and videos showcasing Xinjiang's development, and the issuance of a white paper on Xinjiang's human rights condition, those China-skeptics turn a blind eye to the facts.

The authors who have penned a book on the region - Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland - did visit Xinjiang, but what they came up with are distorted versions of the situation, twisted history and prejudice. Thus, for those who have a political agenda to serve, facts are the first thing to ignore, twist or play with.

Some say this is a result of differences in cultures and values. Yet since the white color is a symbol of purity in one culture and of supremacism in another, bullying others to attribute just one meaning to a color is nothing but hegemony.

There is little doubt that some politicians in the US and other Western countries have an ulterior motive behind their seeming concern for Xinjiang residents. And not surprisingly, the motive is directly linked with the US' politics, ideology and global strategy. Showing a sudden interest in Xinjiang after the end of the Cold War, the US devised a so-called Xinjiang policy to boost its Central Asia strategy and new global strategy, one of whose major objectives is to weaken, contain and attempt to disintegrate China.

The US' policy to contain China is evident in the way it has hyped up the problems in Xinjiang. Some American people and organizations have openly supported the separatist "East Turkistan Islamic Movement" in China through political and financial help, and by disseminating its separatist ideas through publicity and diplomatic channels in the disguise of human rights and freedom. No wonder they call white black and assume the measures China has taken in Xinjiang to fight terrorism, separatism and extremism and improve public welfare are human rights violations.

The US wants to create among Belt and Road partner countries doubts about the situation in Xinjiang, which is a core region on the Silk Road Economic Belt, and thus dissuade them from participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Some American politicians and media will continue to proclaim the US as the judge of the world and infringe upon other countries' sovereignty. They are also expected to hype up the Tibet issue and Taiwan question, even the Hong Kong issue. In fact, their involvement in the recent protests against the amendments to Hong Kong's extradition laws is clear. But as a Uygur saying goes, camels march on as usual even when dogs bark furiously.

The author is former vice-chairman of Xinjiang Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.