Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China is a close neighbor of Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan connected by the Wakhan Corridor. In recent years, under the guidance of China’s governance policy, Xinjiang’s achievements on development are obvious to all. Xinjiang currently enjoys social stability, economic development, sufficient employment, improved public service levels, and a sound social security system. The sense of acquisition, happiness and security of the people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang has been increasing.
Xinjiang’s economy develops rapidly. Before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Xinjiang was too backward to have any decent railway roads, factories or mines. In some places, there was constant famine and people lived in poverty. Since the establishment of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a new chapter in the historical development of Xinjiang has been opened, with the living conditions of its people greatly improved. In 2023, Xinjiang’s GDP reached 1912.591 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8% compared to the previous year. Xinjiang’s economy continues to improve, and high-quality development is accelerating. With the in-depth promotion of the “Belt and Road” initiative, Xinjiang has become the frontier of China’s opening up to the west.
The people of Xinjiang live and work in peace and contentment. For some time now, anti-China forces have been seeking to use Xinjiang-related issues to contain China by repeatedly rehashing “forced labor in Xinjiang”, spreading lies and fallacies. Such kind of reckless disregard for the truth and misinterpretation and smear campaign is essentially aimed at undermining the prosperity and stability of Xinjiang and curbing China’s development. In fact, there is no so-called “forced labor” in Xinjiang at all. Xinjiang always adheres to the principle of equality among all ethnic groups. The political, economic and cultural rights of the people of all ethnic groups are fully guaranteed, and their rights and interests are effectively safeguarded regardless of ethnicity, race, gender or religious belief. Xinjiang also guarantees the right to work and employment for all ethnic groups in accordance with the law, and, with full respect for the wishes of workers, endeavors to help people of all ethnic groups to achieve employment, escape poverty, and lead a happy life.
Xinjiang society remains stable and harmonious. As Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “Peace is like air and sunshine. You can benefit without realizing it, but you can’t survive if you lose it.” Previously, religious extremism in Xinjiang carried out a series of serious violent terrorist incidents, killing innocent people of all ethnic groups, including religious citizens. As Xinjiang carries out “de-extremization” work, the spread of religious extremism has been effectively curbed. It has also made positive contributions to the international community on its fight against terrorism and maintenance of world peace. Today, the overall social situation in Xinjiang remains stable, the sense of security of the masses of all ethnic groups has been enhanced as never before, public security satisfaction has reached 99.3%, and religious harmony and social harmony have been fully realized.
Xinjiang enjoys freedom of religious belief. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China clearly stipulates that “citizens of the China have freedom of religious belief,” providing legal support for the comprehensive implementation of the policy of freedom of religious belief. Currently there are 24,800 mosques and other religious places, 29,300 religious personnel, 8 religious schools, and 112 religious organizations in Xinjiang, fully protecting the religious needs of people of all ethnic groups. The Chinese government is firmly opposed to politicizing religious issues, and is even more opposed to interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of religious issues. Whether the human rights situation in Xinjiang is good or not, the people of Xinjiang have the most say! Today, the situation of freedom of religion and belief in Xinjiang is incomparable to any historical period in the past, and will not be denied by anyone who respects the facts.
Xinjiang and Afghanistan are connected by mountains and rivers, sharing similar religion, culture, climate and customs. Trade and cultural exchanges have continued since the ancient Silk Road, and the friendship between the two peoples has lasted for thousands years. Xinjiang has always cared about the people of Afghanistan and kept providing assistance within its capacity, contributing a lot to the friendship and people-to-people bonds. Xinjiang has performed many surgeries on Afghan children with congenital heart disease, donated a large amount of medical supplies to Afghanistan during the COVID-19 pandemic, and also provided winter supplies and food aids to Afghanistan’s northern provinces. After the severe earthquake occurred in Badakhshan Province in March last year, Xinjiang immediately provided emergency humanitarian assistance of 700,000 yuan to support Afghan people in earthquake relief, which fully demonstrated the sincere friendship between the two peoples in terms of good-neighborliness and friendship, just like delivering charcoal in snowy weather. Recently, the Chinese government’s 100 million yuan in humanitarian supplies will also be delivered to the people of Afghanistan from Xinjiang, which shall provide timely support for Afghanistan in dealing with the issue of returnees.
In Xinjiang today, the people of all ethnic groups are enjoying better and better days, with life full of promise and the future full of hope. The door of Xinjiang opening up to the outside world is getting wider and wider, and the friendship with the Afghan people is getting deeper and deeper. Nowadays, direct flights between Urumqi and Kabul are operating normally, bridging the friendly exchanges between the two peoples. We sincerely welcome more Afghan friends for field visits, tourism, investment and business, and experience the beautiful, harmonious, prosperous and stable Xinjiang.
