Photo: Screengrab of CGTN
 

China's first documentary on its overall counter-terrorism efforts in Xinjiang aired Thursday night prompted wide discussions among the audience with never-before-seen scenes of terrorism, which highlighted the hefty price China has paid and the country's resolve to eradicate terrorism.

Video and audio clips in the English-language documentary were shown for the first time as evidence of the horrible crimes wrought by terrorists in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It also showed interactions between terrorists and overseas masterminds. 

The nearly one hour-long documentary, "Fighting Terrorism in Xinjiang," which was streamed on CGTN, China's state broadcaster, has four parts. It begins with the evolution of extremism in Xinjiang, followed by the fight against terrorism. It also illustrated the interactions of terrorists and overseas forces accompanied by audio and video evidence. The documentary ends by highlighting international cooperation on counter-terrorism.  

Zheng Liang, a research fellow at Guangdong-based Jinan University, who studied Xinjiang for more than 10 years, told the Global Times that he felt "shocked" after viewing the documentary. 

Zheng said that previous videos on Xinjiang's counter-terrorism were not as specific and well-edited as the Thursday one. "This newly released documentary uses quite different visual language adopted by mainstream media."

"The authorities did not publish the video and details of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang before out of concern they may cause panic. This proves China had paid a high price in fighting terrorism, and the international community should have a clear understanding of this," Li Wei, a counter-terrorism expert at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times.

Li noted that the video and audio footage justify China's Xinjiang policies in countering terrorism, including launching the vocational education and training centers, which have been highly effective in de-radicalizing and fighting extremist forces.

The beginning of the documentary features the landscape of Xinjiang, its culture and the different ethnic groups in China, including the prosperous markets and people's peaceful and happy lives. Then the scene shifts to depicting the threat of terrorism that wrought havoc in the region. 

Global threat

Xinjiang has long been the main battlefield of countering terrorism. According to incomplete data, from 1990 to 2016, Xinjiang endured thousands of terrorist attacks that killed large numbers of innocent people and hundreds of police officers.

The documentary features video footage of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, including one in Yining, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture in 1997, which left seven dead and 198 injured; the Urumqi riots on July 5, 2009, which caused 197 deaths and over 1,700 injuries; and the 2013 Seriqbuya attack in Kashi, which left 15 dead and two wounded. 

Terrorists also orchestrated attacks in other cities of China: ramming a car into a crowd in Tiananmen Square in 2013, and another attack that struck the Kunming railway station on March 1, 2014, that left 31 dead and 141 wounded.  

Police officers in Xinjiang work on the frontline of the fight against terrorism. According to data from China Central Television, from 2013 to 2016, a total of 127 police officers in Xinjiang sacrificed their lives in the line of duty.

Experts believe terrorism is a global threat, and no country can win the war against terrorism on its own. In the face of the threat of terrorism and extremism, Xinjiang has taken a series of measures, including establishing laws and regulations, and launching effective counter-terrorism operations.  

According to media reports found by the Global Times, the Xinjiang region launched a special counter-terrorism campaign in May 2014. 

Authorities have cracked down on 1,588 terrorist groups, and 12,995 terrorists and 2,052 explosive materials had been seized in Xinjiang since 2014, read a white paper on regional work on counter-terrorism, de-extremism and human rights protection in March.