West's ranting over Xinjiang goes against historical facts

That some in the West are confused about the history of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the Uygur ethnic group may be understandable. But do these Westerners appear confused because they deliberately misread the facts?

The white paper on the historical matters concerning Xinjiang the State Council Information Office published on Sunday is exactly meant to prevent such misreading and ensure Western observers don't spread confusion, which seems to have become a highly infectious disease in the West.

The white paper says never in history "has Xinjiang been referred to as 'East Turkistan' and there has never been any state known as 'East Turkistan'". As such, people in the West have no reason to call Xinjiang "Eastern Turkistan", suggesting the region used to be part of the Turkic Khaganate. There is no reason either for the Uygurs to believe they are the descendants of Turks, which secessionist forces use to justify their claim to an "independent Eastern Turkistan".