An innovative counterterrorism approach for stability and prosperity in Xinjiang

NB: Access to Daily Maverick is blocked in China, but the publication believes in the freedom of speech and so publishes this Op-Ed by the ambassador of China to South Africa.

Xinjiang is an inalienable part of China. The minority ethnic population in Xinjiang enjoys full religious freedom as evidenced by 24,400 mosques, which is more than double the combined number of mosques in the United States (about 2,000), UK (about 1,750), Germany (about 3,000) and France (about 2,500).

Over the past several years, assisted by the indulgence and provocation by some anti-China forces, some ethnic separatists, religious extremists and terrorists both within and outside China have carried out tens of hundreds of terrorist attacks involving bombing, assassination, poisoning, arson attacks and public riots, costing the lives of numerous innocent people, including hundreds of police, gravely threatening social stability and harmony, and flagrantly trampling on the basic human rights of the peoples of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

In the face of these atrocities, some people still living with the Cold War mentality in the West have failed to express due condemnation. On the contrary, they have encouraged, either openly or covertly, these horrible acts. Such a double-standard approach to terrorism by the West has been met with the strongest criticism by the righteous peoples of the world.

We believe that anyone who is familiar with national laws, has a good command of professional knowledge and expertise, and has a decent job and family, will not easily fall for terrorism or religious extremism.

The root cause of terrorism is poverty. The key to eliminate terrorism is to accelerate development in Xinjiang, so as to bring about for everyone, the youth in particular, decent work, income and family life. This is fundamentally different from the Western approach of fighting violence with violence, and is a fundamental solution to the uprooting of terrorism.

On the one hand, the Chinese government is committed to fighting fiercely against terrorism and violent crime according to law, effectively protecting the basic human rights of all of its citizens, firmly upholding social stability in Xinjiang, providing intensive policy support and creating favourable conditions to support fast development in the region.

On the other hand, the Chinese government has been actively creating a new model of counterterrorism, which mainly emphasises prevention. We have established vocational technical training schools to offer free training programmes for the local youth, including those who have committed minor offences, but have been exempted from criminal punishment.

We have organised programmes for them to learn Mandarin Chinese — the national language of communication in China, and the laws of the country, including the constitution, criminal law, civil law and others. In order to support their improving their employability, we have offered training courses on garment manufacturing, food processing, electronic assembly, printing and publishing, and e-commerce.

The goal is to support them building basic skills and greater knowledge in language, law, science and technology, and business, to get better jobs and to make a better living, as an alternative to participating in terrorist crimes.

The vocational technical training schools in Xinjiang are a major innovation by the Chinese government to get rid of extremism. As a major trial to eliminate the root cause of the environment and soil for terrorism and religious extremism, the efforts by the Chinese government is already showing remarkable results.

For 21 consecutive months Xinjiang has remained free of terrorist crimes, criminal cases have declined drastically, and the general public feel safe. In 2017, Xinjiang’s GDP grew by 7.6%, higher than the national average.

Urban and rural per capita disposable income increased by 8.1% and 8.5% respectively. The region received more than 100 million domestic and foreign tourist trips, an increase of 32.4% from the previous year. In the first nine months of this year, the number of tourists has reached 132 million, a year-on-year increase of 40%. People who have visited the region came back feeling that Xinjiang is not only beautiful, but also safe and stable. Whether during the day or the night, people no longer feel scared, but are at their ease to go shopping, dining, or touring.

We believe that to fight violence with violence cannot resolve the problem of terrorism, and can only escalate the abuse of human rights. In June this year, the UK announced a new counterterrorism strategy (CONTEST 3.0), which calls for safeguarding and supporting those most at risk of radicalisation through early intervention, identifying them and offering support.

France announced as early as in 2016 the establishment 12 de-radicalisation centres across the country. The US has been trying to use community corrections to address juveniles exposed to extremist ideas. It is regrettable that when the Chinese government tackles terrorism through innovative approaches to achieve violence prevention, harmony and fast development in Xinjiang, some people in the US and Europe smear China with unwarranted accusations of “imprisonment”, “segregation”, a “re-education camp”, and “religious persecution”. This not only misleads the public, but also endorses and fans the fire of terrorist forces. Such blatant double standards once again lays bare their ill-conceived motive to disrupt and undermine China’s stability and development.

Terrorism is the common enemy of mankind. The ulterior motives of the anti-China forces in the West cannot and will not stop China’s resolute efforts to innovate in the fight against terrorism. No matter how hard they try to fabricate sheer fallacies, the Chinese government will remain firmly committed to upholding national security, stability and ethnic harmony.

We will continue to unswervingly support Xinjiang’s comprehensive development, and make sure that people of all ethnicities in Xinjiang will feel safe, happy, and more fulfilled, and truly share the benefits of a strong, prosperous, and stable nation. DM

Lin Songtian is the Chinese ambassador to South Africa.