Online event rebukes Xinjiang slanders

Counterterrorism and deradicalization measures carried out in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region are legal and legitimate and have never been aimed at suppressing "people from certain ethnic groups" as claimed by some Western politicians, Chinese officials said.

Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, said people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are now enjoying better lives, and their human rights are better protected, as no terrorist attacks have happened in the region in the past four years.

"It should be pointed out that the counterterrorism and deradicalization measures have the full understanding and support of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. The measures comply with the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism, and draw from the practices of Western countries. They are totally legal and legitimate," Zhang said at an online event entitled "Xinjiang is a Wonderful Land" on Wednesday evening.

Some Western countries failed to acknowledge the suffering of people in Xinjiang as a result of terrorism, yet keep "fabricating lies" at a time when development in the region is at its highest historical point, Zhang said at the event, which was jointly held by China's Permanent Mission to the UN and the Xinjiang regional government.

For a while, the region was frequently subject to terrorist attacks caused by the spread of separatism, extremism and terrorism. To keep people safe and eliminate the grave threat posed by terrorist attacks, Xinjiang began to implement a series of measures to root out terrorism and extremism in 2014, which included setting up vocational education and training centers, Ilijan Anayt, a Xinjiang regional government spokesman, said at a news conference on Xinjiang-related issues in Beijing on Wednesday.

"While the United States and Western anti-China forces have constantly labeled counterterrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang as moves to 'suppress people from certain ethnic groups', the majority of the international community believe that those measures have proven to be effective and are worth learning from," Ilijan said.

He said that many foreign visitors have been shocked to learn about the number of terrorist attacks that once affected Xinjiang, and how people suffered as a result, and showed support for Xinjiang's prevention measures, including the establishment of the centers and condemned groundless accusations made by the US and Western anti-China forces, asking them to view counterterrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang objectively.

The life of Dilikamar Turson was changed forever when she lost her right leg in a terrorist attack in a shopping area in Luntai county, Bayingolin Mongolian autonomous prefecture on Sept 21, 2014.

"I will never forget the moment I saw my right leg torn apart by an explosion as I lay in a pool of blood. I will never forgive those terrorists. I do not want to see anyone else going through my pain," she said at the online event.