The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, has made a surprise visit to Xinjiang, urging officials in the region to conserve “hard won social stability” and deepen efforts in controlling “illegal religious activities”. It was only his second visit since launching an extreme crackdown on the area’s Uyghur and Turkic Muslim population almost a decade ago.
Xi arrived in the city of Urumqi on Saturday, according to Chinese state media, where he heard a government work report and made a speech to Communist party and government officials. During his visit, Xi urged officials to “more deeply promote the Sinicisation of Islam and effectively control illegal religious activities”.
Xi’s crackdown on the region and its Uyghur population has been labeled an attempted genocide by some governments, human rights groups and legal bodies.
Chinese authorities have detained at least 1 million people in detention and reeducation centres and enacted mass surveillance and systematic oppression of religious and cultural expression. Religious and cultural sites have been destroyed or largely closed off to religious observers, according to research groups. The UN last year found credible evidence of torture and other human rights abuses of Uyghur people, while Human Rights Watch and legal watchdogs say crimes against humanity have been committed.
Xi and other senior officials categorically reject the accusations, which they say are part of a western plot to smear China. Instead, they say the policy is an anti-extremism and poverty alleviation programme. However, there is overwhelming evidence that Beijing’s policies frequently target benign and everyday acts of religious observance, including the wearing of beards or studying the Qur’an.
He stressed that “social stability” must always be prioritised, and it must be used to guarantee development. He said the region was “no longer a remote area” but a core hub for the belt and road development initiative, and that it should open up more to domestic and foreign tourism, state media reported.
Local officials must “strengthen positive publicity and show Xinjiang’s new atmosphere of openness and self-confidence … [while] refuting all forms of false public opinion and negative or harmful speech”, he said.
“In the process of Chinese-style modernisation, we will better build a beautiful Xinjiang that is united and harmonious, wealthy and prosperous.”
A report on the visit by news outlet Xinhua said Xi told officials the “problem of cultural identity” had to be solved in order to consolidate the Chinese nation, the CCP and “socialism with Chinese characteristics”.
Kenneth Roth, a former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said Xi’s visit was a “doubling down on his crimes against humanity”.
Xi made the stop in Xinjiang after attending the Brics forum in South Africa. His first visit to the region was in June last year.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
