(TibetanReview.net, Jan10’19) – Amid growing international criticism of its internment of around a million Muslim minorities in so-called vocational training centres which are nothing more than de-Islamization, political indoctrination camps, China has invited diplomatic envoys from 12 countries to “witness the social and economic progress” of East Turkestan (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) under its rule. They were reported to have toured the region – which has seen protests, including violent incidents, in the past in an ongoing campaign for independence – from Dec 28 to 30.
The visiting diplomatic envoys, as well as representatives of diplomatic envoys, belonged to Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Kuwait, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Jan 8. None of these countries have criticized China’s widely reported, including by the UN, ongoing camp internment repression in Xinjiang.
The report said the diplomatic envoys visited local markets, farmers, educational institutes, mosques, factories, as well as vocational education and training centers. They were stated to have interacted with local vendors, students, and workers and learned about the region’s progress in maintaining social stability, improving people’s livelihood and developing local economy. And they were reported to have agreed to cooperate with the region in the fields of culture, tourism, economy and trade.
The report cited Mohammed Hosnie Shahiran Ismail, Counselor of the Malaysian Embassy in China, as saying the tour enabled him to see that the Chinese government attached great importance to religious freedom and that religious activities were protected by the state.
The report underlined the visit’s propaganda purpose by citing Ismail as saying the region was different from what Western media had portrayed.
People are busy studying and working here, very different from the past when people were often seen idling around without much to do, the report had Sayed Habiburahman Husinpur, Charge d’Affaires of the Afghanistan Embassy in China, saying.
