Macao Daily:
What's the legal basis for the vocational education and training center in Xinjiang? What achievements have been made? Thank you.
Shohrat Zakir:
This question will be answered by Xu Hairong, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee, and secretary of the CPC Urumqi Municipal Committee.
Xu Hairong:
Xinjiang is governed in accordance with the law, and we are actively carrying out this work based on legal thinking and legal methods. The legal basis for establishing vocational education and training centers are the Counter-Terrorism Law of the PRC, the Measures of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Implementing the Counter-terrorism Law of the PRC, and the Regulations of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Deradicalization. According to these provisions, we have adopted some of school regulations to improve management of the vocational education and training centers. We have allocated teaching resources, opened courses such as standard spoken and written Chinese, legal knowledge and vocational skills, as well as deradicalization courses, and established education systems, as we continue to protect the lawful rights of the trainees.
The training program has achieved good results as we spared no efforts in saving those who committed petty crimes or minor offenses while involved in terrorist and extremist activities, eradicating the soil and conditions that breed terrorism and religious extremism, while protecting the citizens' basic rights from the harm of terrorism and extremism.
I'd like to share with you some stories. The first one is about Dilixiati. She is a student who graduated from a vocational education and training center. She used to run an agritainment facility and earned a good income. However, after being influenced by religious groups, she believed her orchard would be defiled if heretics were allowed to eat under her apricot trees. So, she closed the agritainment facility and cut down the trees, living a hard life ever since. Her study in the vocational education and training center helped her realize the harm of religious extremism. Now, she despises the dogma that ruined her life. After her graduation, she reopened her business and rekindled hope in her life. This story tells us that, after study in vocational education and training centers, religious extremism has been cleared out from people's minds.
The second story is about Buzuola Rozi. He is also a student who graduated from a vocational education and training center. With the help of local governments and the skills he learned from the center, he opened a Specialized Cooperative on embroidery. It has created over 30 jobs for local villagers, helping lift the fellow villagers out of poverty. This story tells us students can gain improvement in the centers and become useful talents for society.
The third story is about Zuoranmu Abuduyusufu. After his study in a vocational education and training center, he has not only got rid of all vestiges of religious extremism, but also began to take good care of his yard. He called for his neighbors to improve the village's environment together. Thus, he was awarded a model in protecting the environment. This story tells us that people in the centers pursue a modern and civilized life, and are now playing a leading role in improving the society.
Xinjiang has more stories like these. That's why all people in Xinjiang realized that, without the vocational education and training center, life in Xinjiang would not be as stable as it is today. People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang show their support for this endeavor. Since the end of last year, more than 1,000 people of over 70 delegations from 91 countries, including foreign officials, diplomatic envoys in China, media reporters and religious figures have visited vocational education and training centers. They all said what they witnessed in Xinjiang was different from the descriptions by the U.S. and some other Western countries. Xinjiang's counter-terrorism and de-radicalization approach fully conforms with the purposes and principles of the United Nations in combating terrorism and safeguarding basic human rights. Thank you.
