China’s top leader in Xinjiang urged visiting diplomats from pro-China countries to support Beijing with “a strong voice” in the face of condemnation from the United States and other Western countries over the repression of Muslim Uyghurs, Radio Free Asia reported. On April 27, Ma Xingrui, the Communist party secretary for the Xinjiang region, met with consul generals from Brazil, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Turkey in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on a visit to the invitation of the Chinese government.
“Some anti-China forces in the Western countries led by the US are destroying the progress of human rights in Xinjiang by spreading numerous anti-China fake news and defaming China’s image,” Ma said during his welcome speech. He called on the diplomats to raise “their just voices” in support of Beijing by speaking out on behalf of China in the international arena, Radio Free Asia reported.
Ma also told them that the overall social situation in Xinjiang was stable with ethnic unity, religious harmony and economic and social development. The visit came at a time when Uyghur rights groups demanded that the international community take concrete actions to hold China accountable for severe rights abuses against the mostly Muslim Uyghurs.
The US government and the parliaments of several Western counties also have declared that the Chinese government’s repression of Uyghurs amounts to genocide and crimes against humanity. Some have sanctioned Chinese officials and companies deemed to be involved in the rights abuses and forbade the importation of products made with Uyghur forced labour, Radio Free Asia reported. As international condemnation of Beijing mounts, the Chinese government has been inviting representatives of pro-China countries to visit Xinjiang to see what officials say is the region’s achievements in economic and social development and the improvement of people’s livelihoods.
Many of the diplomats who have visited Xinjiang hailed from autocratic, developing countries that are highly dependent on China for trade and infrastructure investment under the Belt and Road Initiative, Radio Free Asia reported. Ilshat Hesen, a US-based Uyghur activist and a vice chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress, said the Chinese government has invited foreign delegations to visit Xinjiang in recent years to try to counter the effect of economic sanctions imposed by Western nations.