Video conference held to share Xinjiang stories with Lebanese

URUMQI -- China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Chinese embassy in Lebanon held a video conference on Thursday to show the people of Lebanon what life is really like in Xinjiang.

Some 50 government officials, scholars and journalists from Lebanon attended the conference online.

Dilmurat Arkin, who once received training at a former vocational education and training center, told the audience that the center was well-equipped, with multi-media equipment in classrooms, as well as TVs and air-conditioners in the dormitories.

He recalled that students were free to choose courses according to their interests, such as advertising, e-commerce and tour guiding, and if anyone felt uncomfortable, they could get treatment in the clinics at the center.

"Now I manage a wholesale food store in Xinjiang's Kashgar prefecture, earning more than 200,000 yuan (about $31,500) each year," he said. "Thanks to the knowledge of e-commerce I learned at the center, I can sell goods all over China."

"Some people abroad claimed that those centers were 'concentration camps.' I wonder which 'concentration camp' would care about the students like this and teach them skills to become rich," said Dilmurat Arkin.

Melida Ghayrat, a public transport employee in the regional capital Urumqi, has been working for her company since graduating from a technical school focused on public transport in 2016.

"Before I joined the company, I signed a contract. I got a monthly salary of 5,000 yuan, plus all the basic insurances," she said.

Rumors of "forced labor" in Xinjiang are just not in accord with the facts, she added. "What I've seen is that some of my colleagues of different ethnic groups have become managers because of their excellent performance."