The State Council Information Office published on Sunday a White Paper, clarifying certain misunderstandings about Xinjiang's ethnic, religious, cultural and historical issues in the international community. With the paper, kind-hearted people can distinguish between right and wrong. It is hoped malicious agitators will zip their lip.

Xinjiang has officially been a part of the Chinese territory since the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220). Xinjiang has never been the so-called "East Turkistan." And Uyghur people, although speaking Turkic, are not descendants of the Turks.

Economic ties between Xinjiang and the inland region had existed in the Shang Dynasty (1600BC-1046BC). After the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) crushed the rebellion by the Junggar tribe in Xinjiang in 1758, China’s boundary in northwest has been demarcated. As for the region's economic achievements 70 years after its peaceful liberation in 1949, anyone without prejudice will understand it if they visit the region.

Some people in the US and the West have launched systematic attacks on China's governance in Xinjiang in recent years. Some have invented an absurd logic: China is "persecuting" the entire Uyghur ethnic group simply because the terrorists we are fighting against are Uyghurs; China is "cracking down" on the entire Islamic religion because those extremists have such a religious belief. They have even hyped that China is going to wipe out the Uyghur culture. 

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the whole country have tried their best to dilute ethnic and religious factors in their fight against terrorism and de-radicalization efforts. Media reports in China have always avoided mentioning relevant ethnic group and religion.

Our firm policy at the grass-roots level is to isolate a few terrorists and extremists who are determined to confront the country's rule of law, to unite the people of all ethnic groups, and to  treat the believers of all legitimate religions well.

However, some in the West have attempted to put vicious labels on the above-mentioned policy in Xinjiang, distorting the fights against terrorism and extremism as "persecution" on certain ethnic group and religion.

The White Paper helps people clearly see the development of Xinjiang as a multi-ethnic region and understand the significance of upholding ethnic unity and religious harmony for the well-being of all ethnic groups in the region. Extremism, the common enemy of Xinjiang's people of all ethnic groups, must be stripped out and resolutely eradicated. This is where their common interests lie.

Openness, diversity and beauty have flowed in Uyghur people's veins after long-term migration and integration. Supported by some Western forces, a handful of terrorists and extremists in exile have attempted to kidnap the Uyghur ethnic group, risking the entire ethnic group as a bargaining chip for certain forces in the US and the West, in a bid to achieve their own crazy goals. The vast majority of Uyghur people will never respond to such conspiracy, and the entire Chinese nation will never allow such a plot to have its way.

Some in the US and the West believe it can disarrange Xinjiang by supporting the terrorists and can put pressure on China's efforts to counter terrorism and extremism. But the situation has let them down. Xinjiang is getting better. Its economic and social development is back on track. Extremism has been hit hard and is hated by everyone.

China's governance in Xinjiang has re-established peace and tranquility and benefitted people of all ethnic groups.  Islamic countries worldwide understand Xinjiang and thus show their support. With strong discourse power, the West has passed their opposition off as the world's voice. In fact, they have already fallen into isolation on the Xinjiang question.

The US and the West are the true instigators of many disputes within the Islamic world. This is the consensus of over one billion Muslims around the world. US wars against terrorism have vented hostility towards Muslims. The Muslim travel ban issued by the US in 2017 strongly discriminates against Muslims. Despite a few elites on the fringes of mainstream American and Western societies, the vast majority of Muslim immigrants are subject to discrimination in Western societies. The most prominent religious and racial contradiction in the world is undoubtedly between the West and the vast majority of the Islamic world. 
 
Some people in the West are trying to hype the Xinjiang question. One of their vicious intentions is to divert and dilute the contradiction between the US and the Islamic world. Their plots are doomed to fail.