On January 20, 2020, the Information Office of the People's Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region held the 3rd press conference on Xinjiang-related issues. The press conference invited Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR Elijan Anayit, Mayor of Hotan City Rishat Musajan, Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture Aniwar Abulimit, Principal of a boarding school Qedirdin Qahar and Jiapar Abdula, father of a student of the same boarding school in Bageqi Town of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture, to give a briefing and answer questions from the press regarding Xinjiang's basic education.

Moderator: Dear friends from the press, good morning. Welcome to the 3rd press conference on Xinjiang-related issues. The theme of this press conference is "Xinjiang's basic education."

The invitees of today's press conference are Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR Elijan Anayit, Mayor of Hotan City Rishat Musajan, Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture Aniwar Abulimit, Principal of a boarding school Qedirdin Qahar and Jiapar Abdula, father of a student of the same boarding school in Bageqi Town of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture. They will answer your questions.

First, Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR Elijan Anayit will give a briefing of Xinjiang's basic education.

Elijan Anayit, Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR:

Dear friends from the press,

Good morning. It is my pleasure to meet you here. Next, I would like to brief you on relevant circumstances of Xinjiang's basic education.

Xinjiang attaches great importance to education. By prioritizing educational development, increasing investment, and implementing educational projects for the interest of the people, we aim to try our best to enable every child to enjoy fair and highquality education. According to initial statistics, by the end of 2019, Xinjiang has got a total of 12,757 schools for basic education, with 5.89 million students and 484,000 faculty members. The gross enrollment rate of pre-school education is 95.95%, and 99.9% of school-age children are enrolled into primary schools. We have realized full coverage of nine-year compulsory education around the region, and the four prefectures in southern Xinjiang provide 15-year free education to all children aged from kindergarten to senior middle school. The government spending on education in 2019 is estimated to be 86.1 billion yuan, with 6.93 billion yuan allocated to student funding, benefiting 4.253 million students. Since the reform and opening-up, Xinjiang has cultivated a great number of excellent professionals in various fields and trades, who have provided vigorous support to the region's economic and social development.

We have substantially promoted the development of preschool education for the benefit of all. In 2017, governments at all levels in Xinjiang invested 16.3 billion yuan in building, renovating or expanding 4,408 rural kindergartens. At present, Xinjiang has realized full coverage of free preschool education in rural areas; every village owns at least one kindergarten. Children can enjoy free breakfast and lunch, growing up happily and healthily in the kindergartens. For instance, the Hexie Xincun Kindergarten in Hotan County of southern Xinjiang's Hotan Prefecture has received visits of many foreign guests, who had expressed their unexpectedness that the rural kindergartens in Xinjiang could be so well-equipped. All of them gave positive comments by identifying this great thing Xinjiang government has done for all ethnic groups, as the children grow up so happily there.

We have concentrated our efforts on improving primary and middle school education quality. With continuous endeavor to raise enrollment rate, we have enhanced care and support to the students, provided all necessary assistance to students from needy families, and ensured that no student drops out because of family financial difficulties. Sustained support has been given to the severely impoverished four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, aiming to comprehensively improve basic conditions of schools with weak foundation in compulsory education. Thanks to those efforts, the school conditions and teaching quality of compulsory education has been improved remarkably, with 69 counties in Xinjiang having passed national field assessment on balanced development of education, another 18 counties having applied for the national assessment, and over 96% of junior middle school graduates being admitted to senior middle schools. We have also advanced diversified and featured development of ordinary senior middle schools and increased input in renovating and expanding the school buildings. As a result, infrastructure of the schools got notably improved, and all school-age teenagers have got access to schools, education and skills.

We strengthened the constructions of boarding schools. By implementing the Educational Law of the People's Republic of China, we have listed boarding schools as an important part of standardized school construction and balanced development of compulsory education, balanced relations between nearby enrollment and centralized schooling, thus effectively solving the schooling problem for children in remote farming and herding areas. By the end of 2018, boarding students accounted for 12.94% of the total primary school pupils and 44.68% of junior middle school students in Xinjiang, with the boarding rate ranking in the middle among the western provinces and autonomous regions and roughly the same as the national average.

We have made constant efforts in strengthening development of the teachers. We have recruited excellent teachers from around China to work in Xinjiang and tried to make full use of the Xinjiang-aiding teachers and volunteer teachers. On one hand, emphasis has been put on professional training and cultivation of teacher's ethnics and virtues; on the other hand, measures have been taken to improve teachers' welfare, such as adjusting and completing standard of authorized staffing, trying best to guarantee teachers' welfare by implementing preferential policies, such as living subsidy, evaluation and employment of professional titles, and construction of apartments for temporary housing for rural teachers. We have energetically promoted the social atmosphere of respecting teachers and valuing education, effectively ensured the number of teachers, improved the overall qualifications of the teachers and notably raised the teaching quality of basic education.

We have fully carried out education on the standard spoken and written Chinese language. By implementing the Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional Ethnic Autonomy, the Law on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language and the Educational Law, we have improved the Chinese language learning and using capability of students of all ethnic groups. At the same time, students' right to learn and use their local dialects and written systems is fully protected. The curriculum design and examinations of primary and middle schools have included subjects of ethnic minority languages, and schools are encouraged to organize traditional cultural activities of ethnic minorities. All of these have effectively promoted the inheritance and development of languages and cultures of ethnic minorities.

We have conducted in-depth patriotic education. In implementing the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, we have adhered to the fundamental task of building morality and cultivating people, vigorously carried forward the socialist core values, and integrated patriotism into all links of school education. Extensive and diverse campaigns are organized to teach the students to love their motherland, the people, work, science and socialism and to involve in education and practices of promoting ethnic unity and solidarity. Major endeavors have been made to cultivate socialist builders and successors with all-round development through moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetics and labor education. We have firmly consolidated and developed the socialist ethnic relations based on equality, unity, mutual assistance and harmony, and created social conditions for teachers and students of all ethnic groups to study, work and entertain together, so that the children, regardless of their ethnic background, can play, learn and grow up with each other, thus uniting tightly like pomegranate seeds.

I will stop here. Thank you.

Moderator: Thank you for your briefing. It is Q&A session now. Friends from the press, please raise your hands to ask questions. Please introduce the names of the news agency before asking.

Q: Reporter from Xinhua News Agency: It is my understanding that the central government has required to comprehensively strengthen boarding school development throughout the country. What has Xinjiang done in this regard and what are your achievements?

Moderator: This question goes to Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR Elijan Anayit.

A: It is prescribed in China's Law on Compulsory Education that the people's government at county level should establish boarding schools according to the needs to ensure school-age children who are living in scattered habitations have access to compulsory education.

As Xinjiang has a vast land, the villages and townships are generally far away from one another, which makes it inconvenient for the students to go to school and burdens the parents in taking and picking up kids. To solve the problem, Xinjiang had built 400 primary and middle boarding schools across the region back in 1980s. Requested by national arrangements for strengthening boarding school construction in recent years, Xinjiang has scientifically and appropriately planned and built boarding schools in line with new-type urbanization progress, rural revitalization strategy and the dynamics of school-age children of the local places while also taken into consideration the local geography, transportation, environment and safety conditions. All the boarding schools are built according to national and regional standards with complete learning and living facilities and equipment. The faculty of the schools are either recruited, trained, sent from inland provinces and municipalities which provide pairup support to Xinjiang, or employed through government purchased services. The operational fund on boarding schools is fully covered by the government. The students in boarding schools can enjoy free tuition, textbooks and accommodation. Moreover, boarding students from rural areas are granted special living allowances, i.e., 1,250 yuan per student per school year for primary schools and 1,500 yuan for middle schools, which effectively reduce the economic burden for the student families.

It has been proven by the facts that boarding schools are favored by students and their parents as the schools are good for consolidating and improving the popularization of compulsory education and balancing development of education; they are conducive to concentrating quality education resources, so that more children can enjoy better facilities, teachers and campuses; and they are also good for students to learn scientific and cultural knowledge with higher learning efficiency and lower family financial burden. Boarding schools have become a useful measure for Xinjiang to speed up educational modernization and promote targeted poverty alleviation.

Boarding schools are not unique in China. Historically, it was first launched by Britain, which boasted the reputable Eton College and Winchester College, both in boarding system of several hundred years of history. The United States has boarding schools throughout the country, from New Jersey to Indiana. A story that The New York Times carried claimed that in the boarding schools in Xinjiang, "Students are forced to separate from their parents and suffered from trauma." It is a complete distortion of the facts. I want to ask the NYT reporters, where, which school and which child in Xinjiang did they see that was separated from his or her parents by force and suffering trauma? Which parent was forced to send his or her child to boarding school against free will?

Q: Reporter from People's Daily: Some Western media and 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Chinaof the US claimed that Xinjiang had established lots of boarding schools. Is that true? What are your considerations for building these schools?

Moderator: This question goes to Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture Aniwar Abulimit.

A: As I mentioned just now, for a long time, Xinjiang has been making substantial efforts in promoting the development of boarding schools in accordance with national laws, regulations, policies and requirements. Since 2016, the central government has stressed for multiple times on pushing forward integrated reform and development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas within counties, enhancing the development of small schools in villages and boarding schools in townships, so as to guarantee the education rights of rural students and addressing the difficulties that the rural families had in sending their kids to school. According to these national arrangements and instructions, Xinjiang, just as the rest provinces in China, has stabilized quality of small schools in villages, while also promoted development of boarding schools, thus narrowing the gap compared with other regions in boarding school construction and benefiting students of all ethnic groups with more educational dividends.

Q: Reporter from China Global Television Network (CGTN): What kind of students can apply for boarding schools?

Moderator: This question goes to Qedirdin Qahar, Principal of a boarding school in Bageqi Town of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture.

A: Students of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang enjoy nearby enrollment policy. Students who live near the schools can attend day school, whereas those who live far away can apply for dormitory. The schools provide free lodging and food to rural students. Therefore, the boarding schools have both day students and boarders. Whether applying for boarding is entirely a voluntary choice of the students and their parents without any so-called "forced boarding." On one hand, The New York Times alleged that we conducted "forced boarding"; on the other hand, they had to admit that many remote families love to send their children to the boarding schools. How self-contradictory it is!

Q: Reporter from China Daily: How do you manage boarding schools?

Moderator: This question goes to Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture Aniwar Abulimit.

A: We manage all primary and middle schools including boarding schools in accordance with related laws and regulations including the Educational Law of the People's Republic of China and the Compulsory Education Law. As many boarding students do not live with their parents, we have taken many caring measures into consideration. For instance, boarding schools provide evening self-study classes and arrange teachers to offer one-on-one tutoring to answer students' questions and correct their homework face to face in terms of learning. School counselors take good care of students' diet and daily life, ensuring students' ample sleep and helping them form good daily routine and habits. In terms of mental health, psychological counselors pay close attention to students' mentality and mood at any time and talk with them time to time, so as to make them feel free from anxiety and grow up happily. In terms of health care, school doctors are employed to provide timely and effective treatment to students when they are ill. In terms of security, the faculty escort students to their parents when they go home after school and send them home by school bus. So far, no incidents of students' injury have occurred in boarding schools in Xinjiang.

On the contrary, in the US, even the basic personal safety of many students cannot be guaranteed. In 2018 alone, the US suffered 94 school shooting cases with 163 casualties in total. Pew Research Center website reported that 57% of teen interviewees expressed their concern about possible occurrence of shooting at school and 63% of parent interviewees were worried about possible school shooting. We suggest that The New York Times should put its energy in reminding the US government of strengthening school management, so as to let the students go to school without anxieties and fear.

Q: Reporter from China Media Group: What do parents think of these boarding schools? Are they willing to send their children to boarding schools? Do the children like to study and live in boarding schools?

Moderator: This question goes to Jiapar Abdula, the father of a student of boarding school in Bageqi Town of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture.

A: My name is Jiapar Abdula. I am a farmer in Bageqi Town, Hotan County of Hotan Prefecture. I do not have much time to take care of my children because I'm busy with my work and my home is far away from school. Sometimes, I even do not have time to cook, let alone helping them with their homework. So my children are in a boarding school, where they can have food better than that at home, as school provides delicious meals and after-meal fruits. Their dormitories are well-equipped, and the teachers are very conscientious, too. My children are very happy to go to the school, and their academic performances are improving. There is no need for me to worry about that. What's more, my children eat and study at the school for free. That is a great favor for my family, so I am really grateful for that.

Q: Reporter from China News Service: How often do the students of boarding schools go home? Can their parents visit them at any time?

Moderator: This question goes to Qedirdin Qahar, Principal of a boarding school in Bageqi Town of Hotan County, Hotan Prefecture.

A: The students of boarding schools go to school on Monday morning, go home on Friday afternoon, and spend their weekends at home. The students also go home on various holidays and summer and winter vacations. They can ask for leave and go home whenever there is a need. For the convenience of communication between parents and students, telephones are equipped in every dormitory building. Students can call parents at any time. The headteachers' cell-phone numbers are told to all parents, so the parents can also call the headteachers.

Some time ago, a journalist of The New York Times wandered in front of our school, without asking for either going into the school or making an interview with us. After he returned, he just falsely alleged that our school is "heavily guarded, and outsiders are forbidden to go in" and "parents lose contact with their children." I think such kind of journalists are totally irresponsible and unprofessional.

Q: Reporter from Global Times: It is understood that Xinjiang has promoted the teaching of standard spoken and written Chinese language. What is your consideration behind this? And what achievements have you got? In this process, how do you inherit and protect ethnic minority languages and writing system?

Moderator: This question goes to Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture Aniwar Abulimit.

A: The Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language stipulate that all citizens have the right to learn and use the standard spoken and written Chinese language, and that the state should provide conditions for them to do so. Mastering the standard spoken and written Chinese language is conducive to better integrating into and adapting to modern society, and it facilitates studies, employment, communications and business.

By strictly following the Educational Law of the People's Republic of China, the schools in Xinjiang have carried out education on standard spoken and written Chinese language, which has yielded remarkable achievements. The majority of the students have improved their standard language competency and started to serve as "little translators" and "little assistants" for their parents' communications with the outside world. In the past, when visitors went to the villages, local people could hardly communicate with the villagers due to language barriers. However, now the little children can serve as translators in villages. Language is not a barrier anymore. According to the regional monitoring results of compulsory education quality, the teaching quality in Xinjiang has improved significantly, with indexes of the first and second grade of primary schools scoring the biggest growth, thus laying a solid foundation for growth and progress of the children of all ethnic groups in the region.

Meanwhile, according to the requirement of national primary and middle school curricula, we provide subjects on ethnic minority languages in primary and middle schools, and teach languages including Uygur, Kazak, Kirgiz, Mongol, Xibe and so on, thus protecting the right of ethnic minority students to learn their own languages and effectively promoting the inheritance and development of ethnic minority languages and cultures.

The New York Times alleged that Xinjiang's promotion of standard spoken and written Chinese language is "to eradicate ethnic minority culture," "to replace Uygur with Chinese" and "to teach students to hate their parents and culture." All of these are totally wrong. The United States itself boasts diverse races and cultures, but imagine, if the minorities do not learn English, they would probably find it very difficult to establish themselves in American society. What we want to emphasize is that US is the real place which had the history of slaughtering indigenous Indians. Some American media and so-called politicians are trying to smear Xinjiang with their own country's historical sin. Their fundamental motivation is to deprive our ethnic minority children of better cultural qualifications, stronger employability and broader visions! All our ethnic groups firmly oppose this kind of behavior!

Q: Reporter from Xinjiang Daily: In the promotion of standard spoken and written Chinese language teaching, how does Xinjiang guarantee sufficient teacher resources?

Moderator: This question goes to Mayor of Hotan City Rishat Musajan.

A: Respecting teachers and attaching importance to education is our fine tradition since ancient times. Xinjiang regards teachers as the source of qualified and universal education. We attach much importance to the teachers' team from the following five aspects. Firstly, we recruit teachers according to Teacher Certification Regulations without any limitation on ethnicity, household registration or districts. Anyone eligible can be a teacher after passing recruitment examinations. Secondly, with dedicated supports from inland provinces and municipalities, many excellent teachers are assigned from inland provinces to Xinjiang for further development in education. Thirdly, the teachers' educating and teaching abilities are enhanced through collective training, program of voluntary teaching in rural places and on-line training. Fourthly, teachers' welfare is improved, with more care given to their health, so as to let the teachers feel at ease in teaching and creates an atmosphere of respecting teachers and valuing education in the society. Fifth, favored policies are issued for village teachers in southern Xinjiang. We have granted living allowances to village teachers, increased establishment of teachers to guarantee the quantity of teachers in southern Xinjiang, so that the students there can enjoy better education resources. As a result, the students have better access to education. At present, the teachers in Xinjiang are generally qualified with significant improvement in their ethics and competence as well as steady advancement of teaching quality. All of these are acclaimed by students and their parents.

Recently, we noticed that The New York Times alleged that "in order to launch 'assimilation movement,' Xinjiang has recruited tens of thousands of teachers from around China, most of them are ethnic Han people." All of these words are lies and rumors! I must say that every country sets a relatively high standard in teacher qualifications and we are no exception. The teacher recruitment in Xinjiang is not differentiated by ethnicity. There are both ethnic Han teachers and ethnic minority teachers in all schools. They love their career and their common purpose is to teach students of all ethnic groups knowledge and make them grow up healthily.

Q: Reporter from Xinjiang Radio and Television Station: How do you carry out patriotic education in school?

Moderator: This question goes to Mayor of Hotan City Rishat Musajan.

A: All the countries in the world will teach their teenagers to love their motherland. We attach great importance to patriotic education in schools of all levels and try to integrate contents of socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese Dream, excellent traditional Chinese culture and ethnic solidarity into various educational activities. Through establishing patriotic education bases, watching patriotic films, organizing research study trips, holding Chinese classics recitals, attending national flag raising ceremonies on Monday and conducting activities themed by "I Love My Motherland," we teach our students the Chinese history and culture and let them feel the development and change of our motherland, to inspire their patriotism.

The New York Times despicably make irresponsible remarks on the patriotic education in Xinjiang. Don't American schools ever carry out any patriotic education? Actually, by the end of 19th century, it had been a tradition for students to read or recite "Pledge of Allegiance" in American elementary or secondary schools. According to media reports, in February 2019, an 11-year-old boy was arrested because he refused to pledge allegiance to the national flag. It is clear to see how much effort the US has made to conduct patriotic education. However, the patriotic education in schools of Xinjiang is distorted as "brainwash" by The New York Times. This is the typical double standard.

Q: Reporter from Xinhua News Agency: How did you prevent religious extremism from influencing adolescent students in Xinjiang?

Moderator: This question goes to Elijan Anayit, Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR.

A: Under the guise of ethnicity and religion, religious extremism incited people to resist government management, deny and reject all forms of secular culture and modern civilization. It deems all those who do not follow the extremist practices as pagans. Religious extremism preached absurd deceptions that "Jihadist of martyrdom can enter heaven," turning some people into terrorists under its spiritual control and some normal people into devils. It can be seen from the uncovered cases that religious extremism is behind many of the violent terrorist attacks. Religious extremism is the ideological basis for terrorism, and the basic cause for the frequent violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang.

In the past, religious extremism tried every means to infiltrate into campus. They coerced, deceived and induced a very small number of juveniles to commit crimes. For example, a few of students who were influenced by religious extremism took part in the riot in Urumqi on July 5, 2009. Also influenced by religious extremism, some parents did not allow their children to go to school. Tudanmu Kaderm, a graduated trainee from the vocational education and training center of Kuqa City, Aksu Prefecture, once believed that only the pagans learned scientific and cultural knowledge, so he forced his child to drop out of school. Even worse, he sent his child to religious extremists and ruined the future of his child.

To protect the adolescent students from religious extremism in accordance with the law, we have strengthened ideological and political education in all schools, and provided legal knowledge courses to raise the legal awareness of students and tell them the harm of religious extremism, thus guiding them to keep away from religious extremism, and grow up healthily. Meantime, we resolutely combat religious extremism–based crimes in accordance with the law and guard against the infiltration of religious extremism into campus, so as to provide a good environment for healthy growth of students of various ethnic groups.

Q: Reporter from China Global Television Network (CGTN): According to The New York Times report, some people claimed that their children were sent to boarding schools hundreds of kilometers away from home after they left China. Is this true?

Moderator: This question goes to Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture Aniwar Abulimit.

A: We have noticed that The New York Timesclaimed that 36-years-old Kalbinur Tursun committed her five children to her relatives' care when she left Xinjiang for Istanbul and has not made any contact with them in following years. Last year, she saw her 6-year-old daughter Asher in a video on Chinese social media, and said that the video was released by a teacher of a school in Hotan, which, she said, is more than 300 miles away from her home in Kashgar.

But after the field visit and investigation by journalists, we found that Kalbinur Tursun's real name is Buhalibu Tursun. When she went to Istanbul, she left five children in Xinjiang. Later, her brother-in-law Abdulwaili Rouz took the kids. Currently, the five children are still raised by their uncle Abdulwaili Rouz in his home in Yuepuhu County of Kashgar Prefecture. They go to local schools normally, and have not gone to "the school in Hotan 300 miles away" as alleged by Buhalibu Tursun.

Hereby I want to point out that there are too many lies of this kind, which have been exposed by us with no exception. As for the journalists who published this news report, you drew such ridiculous conclusion and made wanton slanders without making any verification or investigation, I am wondering whether you have any professional ethics and conscience?

Q: Reporter from China News Service: Recently, we noticed that after the Global Times published its interviews with Rebiya Kadeer's relatives, Rebiya raised questions on her Twitter, wondering — Why were there only three of them in the Global Times interview? Why there is no information about her two sons Abulikem and Alim and younger sister Hilqem Kadeer? Where are the other relatives? What's your response to this?

Moderator: This question goes to Elijan Anayit, Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR.

A: What Rebiya Kadeer had been done, which include splitting the country at abroad, supporting violent terrorist activities and instigating ethnic hatred, were extremely detested by her own relatives and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang. It's known that when interviewing her family members, the Global Times reporters fully respected their opinions. A small number of her relatives agreed to accept the interview because they thought she is aged now, and they hoped that she could retrospect her past mistakes. They wanted to persuade her to give up her wrong persistence. However, most of her relatives couldn't forgive her for her crimes and evil conducts, and they were not willing to have any contact with her any more. As the saying goes, "A just cause enjoys abundant support, while an unjust one finds little." I think Rebiya Kadeer should have known that one day she would lose all her family's support before she engaged in such nefarious deeds.

When regarding the question about where her other relatives are, our spokesperson already answered at the press conference on January 10. Here, I would like to reiterate that China is a country under the rule of law. Nobody will be taken under compulsory measures as long as he or she is not suspected of a crime or illegal behavior. All family members of Rebiya Kadeer, including her two sons Ablikem and Alim and her younger sister Hilqem Kadeer, are now living a free life in Xinjiang. None of them has been implicated in Rebiya's criminal cases. As for Rebiya Kadeer's question about her other relatives besides the three in the video issued by Global Times, I think maybe she herself feels guilty for committing so many sins, so she assumed that her relatives will be implicated. Just as the saying goes, "Don't gauge the heart of a gentleman with your own mean measure." In order to prevent lies from becoming truth, reporters shot some more videos of Rebiya's relatives with their consent.

Finally, I want to say that chicanery and lies will completely expose their ugly faces when confronted with truth. If Rebiya Kadeer really cares about her relatives, she should listen to their exhortation and stop going further on the road of crime.

Q: Reporter from China Daily:It is reported that in November 2018, the 2-yearold boy of a Uygur couple detained in Moyu County, Hotan Prefecture drowned; on December 15, 2019, a 5-year-old Uygur boy in Luopu County, Hotan Prefecture drowned during his parents' detention; in February 2018, a 8-yearold girl, whose father was detained in a "re-education camp," was burned with the burn surface area of close to 60% because of an overturned stove; in August 2018, a 10-year-old boy whose parents were detained in a "re-education camp" in Maigait County, Kashgar Prefecture drowned in Yarkant River. Are these four stories true?

Moderator: This question goes to Rishat Musajan, Mayor of Hotan City and Aniwar Abulimit, Director of Education Bureau of Kashgar Prefecture.

A: Lies are lies. No matter how vivid it was fabricated, it will be exposed in front of facts after all. As for these four fabricated stories, journalists visited and interviewed the related families and people in order to find out the facts.

The first story is about the drowning of the 2-year-old boy in Moyu County, Hotan Prefecture, about which we have refuted the rumor for several times. The drowned boy is called Rehemutula Xirewak, whose parents live a normal life in the local place and have never been detained. At that time, his father, Xirewak Aihaitiwak, was renovating their own house, while his mother, Bujiannait Jiapar, was at her mother's house, so the boy playing by himself toddled accidentally into water and drowned.

The second story is about the drowning accident of a 5-year-old boy in Luopu County, Hotan Prefecture. The fact was, at 18:00, December 14, 2019, a 5-yearold boy Naisirula Aihemait in Kalaker Village, Shanpulu Town, Luopu County lost his way because of his parents' negligence. The parents called police for help after they found the boy was missing. After receiving the call, the police station immediately helped them to look for the lost child. Later, by asking the boy's cousin, who was playing with the boy, the parents got to know that their son fell into water while playing. The police immediately organized the villagers to search for the boy. At about 11:30 am the next day, the police found the boy's body under the ice of a water channel. When the boy drowned, both his parents lived a normal life in the local place, and were not detained at all.

The third story is about the burning incident of a girl in Pishan County, Hotan Prefecture. The fact was that on February 18, 2017, a 12-year-old girl named Aisimagul Aihemait in Kumubositan Village, Keketierek Township, Pishan County, accidentally bumped into the stove when she was playing in the room while her mother, Bumairemu Dawut, was washing clothes in the yard. The kettle on the stove was overturned and the boiling water poured onto the girl, causing over 60% of her skin scalded. After the accident, the local government and officials stationed in the village committee for poverty alleviation applied for special assistance fund for the girl at once. Besides, the villagers also raised donations for her medical treatment fees. Thanks to timely treatment and her parents' great care, now Aisimagul has returned to school. However, the good deeds of the local government and the villagers were misinterpreted by some foreign media with ulterior motives. The villagers are very indignant about this.

The fourth story is about the drowning of a 10-year-old boy in Maigat County, Kashgar Prefecture and it was totally made up out of thin air. According to verification of the police department, there was no such thing as any boy drowned in Yarkant River in August 2018 in Maigait County, Kashgar Prefecture.

At last, I want to ask these media, as you have used the tragic sufferings of ordinary families to make up lies time after time, don't you ever worry about your organization's credibility? Don't you ever feel ashamed about your cold-bloodedness and loss of professional ethics? As the same plots and routines of yours have been exposed by us for so many times, I think it is time for you to stop such dirty tricks.

Q: Reporter from China Media Group: It is reported that Meryem Sultan, who won the Lin Zhao Memorial Award in 2019, released information about her mother's detention and her grandmother's death in a vocational education and training center. Is this the true fact?

Moderator: This question goes to Elijan Anayit, Spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of XUAR.

A: Meryem Sultan's real identity is a Uygur woman named Maieryanmu Sulitang, living in Wensu County, Aksu Prefecture. Since 2017, she has continuously released false information concerning Xinjiang on social media. She lied that her mother was detained because of sending her living expenses by post, and she got in touch with her mother by phone but she doubted whether her mother was released or not, and her grandmother was killed at a vocational education and training center, and that she had not contacted with her family for more than 1,000 days, etc. Recently, the journalist interviewed Maieryanmu's mother, Ayigul Sulitang, who said that she has been living a normal life and that Maieryanmu's grandmother, Kanjihan Apiz, had never been to any vocational education and training center and died of illness on January 27, 2019. After she knew her daughter released false information, she contacted her many times, so there was no such thing as Maieryanmu claimed that she has not contacted with her family for more than 1,000 days. Ayigul hopes that her daughter will not be deluded and used by the "three evil forces" and become their tool for propaganda.

Recently, we have also noted that after being deceived or coerced by the overseas "three evil forces" such as the World Uyghur Congress and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, a small number of Xinjiang-native people living at abroad posted fliers on social media to look for their missing relatives or friends, who were claimed to have "lost contact." In the past few days, the Global Times published an investigative report on this issue, which proved that the information and pictures of the so-called "missing persons" posted were all fabricated. The "missing persons" they mentioned are actually living a normal and peaceful life in Xinjiang. Hereby, I want to tell overseas Xinjiang natives that you can rest assured because your relatives in Xinjiang have a good life here. If you encounter any difficulties abroad, you can contact the local Chinese embassy or consulate, and we will spare no effort to cooperate with the Chinese embassy or consulate to provide help to you. It is not easy to make a living abroad, and it is better to stay away from those who harbor malicious intentions. Xinjiang has witnessed the rapid social development and changes with better situations. Welcome back and visit your hometown more often. China is always your motherland.

Moderator: The press conference is over for today. Thank you for your participation.