Lies over Xinjiang won't stop China's progress

Some anti-China forces in the West have fabricated and mongered a string of lies about China's Xinjiang, ignoring facts on the ground and continuing their vain attempt to contain China's development.

They have invented these lies through methods including, but not limited to, data abuse, distortion of information, fabrication of cases, cherry-picking of source materials, and logical contradictions.

For example, the claim that "nearly one million Uygurs are detained," an outright rumor based on two highly dubious "studies."

The first "study" was done by the US government-backed Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) with interviews from only eight people. The CHRD applied the estimated ratio shown in this absurdly small sample to the whole of Xinjiang, drawing a crude conclusion that one million people were detained in the "re-education detention camps" and two million were "forced to attend day/evening re-education sessions."

The second "study" was authored by far-right fundamentalist Christian Adrian Zenz, who based his "just over one million" estimate on a single report by Istiqlal TV, a Uygur exile media organization based in Turkey that instigates separatism while playing host to an assortment of extremist figures. It is also noteworthy that Zenz is a religious fanatic who has said he is "led by God" to crusade against the Chinese government.

His many so-called sources of information, including three women who had claimed to be under "unlawful detention" and forced to undergo compulsory sterilization by the government, have been debunked.

In its latest fiasco alleging "systematic rape" in Xinjiang, the BBC sourced only dubious, one-sided oral claims, including from some people who have given contradictory statements, without any credible confirmation or corroborating evidence.

The so-called "genocide" in Xinjiang is another lie concocted by anti-China forces. According to official figures, from 2010 to 2018, the Uygur population in Xinjiang rose from 10.17 million to 12.72 million, an increase of 25 percent, higher than the growth rate of 22 percent for all ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and much higher than that of the Han population, which is 2 percent.

By fabricating lies and building a false narrative, anti-China forces in the West, including in the United States, have smeared China's image, slandered its policies on Xinjiang, interfered in China's internal affairs, and attempted to deceive the international community and disrupt the stability and development of Xinjiang. They can fool some of the people some of the time, but cannot fool all the people all the time.

Inflammatory accusations fabricated out of ignorance and prejudice are not difficult to debunk, especially since China has presented a convincing case. That some Western politicians chose to ignore facts and embrace lies, if not out of misunderstanding, can only be explained by their intention to use Xinjiang as a "card" against China.

However, these efforts will be in vain, as China's Xinjiang policy serves the best interests of Xinjiang and China, and have been proved effective by Xinjiang's socio-economic achievements over the years, as witnessed by more than 1,200 diplomats, UN officials, foreign journalists and others from over 100 countries who have visited Xinjiang since 2018.

China including Xinjiang will continue to follow its proven path of development. The attempt to contain China's development through lies over Xinjiang will not succeed.