Foreign diplomats praise government's efforts in western region

Ambassadors and envoys from seven countries visited the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region from Aug 19 to 21 at the invitation of the regional government.

Anwar Alabdulla, Bahrain's ambassador to China (left), and Leela Mani Paudyal, Nepal's ambassador to China, interact with children in Guyuanxiang community in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Aug 19. [Photo/Xinhua]

The diplomats - from Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bahrain and Nigeria - visited the cities of Urumqi and Turpan to get a firsthand view of the region's economic and social development.

They gave a positive evaluation of the central government's efforts in promoting local economic development and improving people's livelihoods, safeguarding freedom of religious belief, as well as combating and preventing terrorism in accordance with the law, saying the successful development of Xinjiang has been noteworthy.

Xinjiang is a key battlefield in the fight against terrorism and extremism in China. For a long time, the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, both at home and abroad, have plotted and organized thousands of violent terrorist activities, which have gravely damaged the stability, solidarity and progress of Xinjiang, trampling on the basic human rights of the people in the region to life, health, property and development.

At the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center in Urumqi, the regional capital, the diplomats watched an exhibition about major cases of terrorism in the region.

Baba Ahmad Jidda, Nigeria's ambassador to China, said his country has suffered a lot from terrorism over the years, with bombings, attacks and arson still frequent occurrences.

"Terrorism and extremism are the common enemies of human civilization. Safeguarding social peace and stability is a shared aspiration of all countries. We should join hands to combat and eliminate the threat of terrorism together," he said.

Noting that the preventive measures against terrorism have yielded good results in Xinjiang, as no violent terrorist activities have been reported in the past three years, the ambassador said: "This is an important and extremely instructive message for us. We hope that our two countries will strengthen exchanges and cooperation and support each other in the field of anti-terrorism in the future."

Leela Mani Paudyal, Nepal's ambassador to China (left), chats with a student at the Turpan City Vocational Education and Training Center in Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Aug 20. [Photo/Xinhua]

Training

Last week, the State Council Information Office released a white paper on vocational education and training in Xinjiang, providing a comprehensive and objective description of the program.

Some Western media, however, have distorted the facts and used so-called religious and human rights issues to attack Xinjiang's anti-terrorism efforts.