Xinjiang residents debunk lies fabricated by Western politicians, anti-China forces

More than 20 residents in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region shared their personal experiences at a news conference via video link on Friday to expose the lies and fallacies of some Western politicians and anti-China forces.

They, coming from different walks of life in Xinjiang, shared their personal experiences involving cultural protection, religious beliefs, school education, counter-terrorism and maintenance of stability, and refuted false statements related to the region, at the news conference held in Beijing in response to a recent "hearing" held by the so-called "Uygur Tribunal."

Xu Guixiang, a spokesperson with the regional government, said the so-called "Uygur Tribunal" is full of lies, and the so-called "witnesses" there also lied under the guise of human rights or academic research, sharing fabricated experiences.

Only the people living and working in Xinjiang are the most trustworthy and convincing voices, he said.

Hong Longzhu, director of a textile company in Kashgar, expressed his anger against the false claim of "massive forced labor" in Xinjiang.

Hong said most of his employees are Uygurs, who used to do farming or part-time jobs to make a living. "Working at the company and with stable jobs and income, many of them have now bought livestock and built new houses."

However, some overseas companies simply ended their cooperation with Hong's company out of fear that they would be implicated due to sanctions on Xinjiang's enterprises imposed by a few Western countries. "Some European and American partners suggested we withdraw from Xinjiang and stop hiring Uygur workers," he said.

A visibly aggrieved Hong posed some questions -- "Don't Uygur people have the right to work in factories? Isn't the United States always claiming to be a champion of human rights? Does the so-called 'human rights' in the United States mean to make people have no jobs, no food and no work?"

Elijan Anayat, a spokesperson with the Xinjiang regional government, said that on the pretext of human rights, a few Western politicians and anti-China forces are trying to undermine the overall stability of Xinjiang, hindering its development and progress, and pushing the region back to the past when violence and terrorist activities were frequent occurrences.

"Such attempts are futile and doomed to fail," said Elijan Anayat.