Villagers play drums at home in Rasekam village of Taxkorgan Tajik autonomous county, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Feb 24, 2022. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
China has always attached the utmost importance to human rights and social development, especially in relation to the ethnic groups living in the country's border areas, and taken serious measures to protect human rights and propel social development. Unlike the United States, China does not pay lip service to human rights. Instead, under the Communist Party of China's leadership, the country has promoted ethnic unity and facilitated development in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.
Xinjiang has made steady progress over the past years, including in rooting out terrorism. In fact, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Xinjiang has maintained its status as a major link of the Belt and Road Initiative, facilitating trade and cooperation with the neighboring countries and regions.
And despite the pandemic, China still welcomes politicians, scholars and ordinary people from around the world to visit Xinjiang and see for themselves the real situation there
However, some US-led Western countries continue to fabricate stories about "genocide" and "human rights violations" in Xinjiang. In the past two years, the US Congress has passed many motions and "laws" on the Xinjiang and Tibet issues, in order to smear China's socialist system and human rights policy.
The "laws", proposed by some anti-China hawks, are similar to other China-related laws passed by the US Congress. And the US uses such "laws" to interfere in China's internal affairs, and question its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The US also uses the "laws" as tools to impose sanctions on China and attack its policies.
On the prodding of the House of Representative speaker, some Congress members have been constantly raising the Xinjiang and Tibet issues. The US has even sent officials to India and Nepal to meet some Chinese separatists there. By doing so, US politicians have worsened Sino-US relations.
Behind such actions, there are organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy, which support Xinjiang- and Tibet-related subversive projects. Despite these organizations running on US taxpayers' hard-earned money, their budget for 2022 has almost doubled.
Also, some so-called Western scholars, including the German Adrian Zenz, the British Jo Smith Finley, and "European Uyghur Institute" director Dilnur Reyhan, have accused China of "genocide" in Xinjiang.
But facts speak otherwise. Before the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Xinjiang had a population of 4.33 million. The region entered a new period of development shortly after the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, and by 2020, its population had increased to 25.85 million. And the fact that the population of Uygurs increased from 3.60 million in 1953 to 11.62 million in 2020 shows how absurd the West's "genocide" claim is.
In recent years, Xinjiang has taken many measures to protect human rights while combating the three evils of terrorism, religious extremism and separatism. Which will stand the test of history.
In the six years from 2016, there has not been any violent terrorist incident in Xinjiang. This truth about Xinjiang is known to the world.
Also, overseas scholars who have conducted honest research on Xinjiang say China's anti-terrorism policy is effective and correct, asserting that Western accusations and slander against China, especially those made by the US, are untenable. These scholars, many of whom have visited Xinjiang, also say that human rights protection and social development in Xinjiang have made continuous progress.
China, including Xinjiang, will continue to open up to the outside world and promote the Belt and Road Initiative. And despite the pandemic, China still welcomes politicians, scholars and ordinary people from around the world to visit Xinjiang and see for themselves the real situation there.
Those political organizations and people fabricating lies about China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and playing with the conscience of the global public, will become increasingly isolated. As a matter of fact, no amount of lies can cover up the truth that Xinjiang enjoys social stability and prosperity, and the region's residents live and work in peace and contentment.
The author is a researcher of the Chinese Borderland Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.