Local residents who are involved in the tourism business play music for tourists in the old town of Kashgar, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 9, 2019. Photo:Xinhua

With the support of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the central Chinese government, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has made unprecedented achievements in economic and social developments to improve people's livelihood. However, anti-China forces in the West, out of their ideological bias, wantonly hype up lies over the so-called "forced labor" in the region. Their political lies are made up from the need to confront China. As such, they are bound to be firmly opposed by those who love peace and justice.

Social stability and lasting peace in Xinjiang are in the fundamental interests of the more than 25 million people of all ethnic groups in the region. However, since the 1990s, the three evil forces of terrorism, separatism, and extremism at home and abroad have been coordinating with one another under the guise of religions, in an attempt to "attract" more people who have no idea about the truth and "encourage" them to carry out violent terrorist activities. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee, there has been no violent or terrorist incident in Xinjiang for nearly four years. 

Xinjiang is located in the northwest of China. For historical and a range of reasons, it had long lagged behind other parts of the country in terms of development, hence it had a large impoverished population. The four prefectures in southern Xinjiang, namely, Hotan, Kashi, Aksu and Kizilsu Kirgiz had large numbers of impoverished population. With the in-depth implementation of a series of employment-friendly policies, the total number of people employed in Xinjiang has increased 17.2 percent from 2014 to 2019. Also during the period, more than 471,200 urban jobs have been created annually, of which 148,000 were in southern Xinjiang. 

Through various forms of vocational training, people of all ethnicities in Xinjiang now have greater working skills. Some have become leading staff members of their companies after working for a few years. One such example is a woman called Ablet, who graduated from a university in Beijing and returned to her hometown and opened a clothes company with the assistance of the government. In 2019 alone, her company sold clothes worth 2 million yuan ($305,800) and helped the employment of more than 40 women. Such cases are countless. 

Xinjiang has been an integral part of China since ancient times with a plurality of ethnicities. People of these ethnicities shoulder the same responsibilities and live together in harmony. They oppose ethnic divisions and foreign invasion to jointly safeguard national unity. 

On the path of poverty alleviation, people have enhanced understandings and are bundled close in unity - like pomegranate seeds. Today's Xinjiang is experiencing a prosperous period of development, advancing rapidly like never before. 

In the past few years, with urbanization and the development of new rural areas, some local governments in Xinjiang have responded to calls of the people to solve the problem of dilapidated mosques. Meanwhile, with government support, the condition of mosques has greatly improved. Water, electricity, gas, road, telecommunication and public services like medical care have all reached the mosques. This has brought enormous convenience to Muslim people. 

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, this year's Ramadan saw the governments send out medical staff to provide services at the mosques. They provided masks to Muslim people, measured their temperatures, sanitized areas, and provided food. 

Governments of all levels across Xinjiang care about the religious staff, all of whom are included in the social insurance system. Their rights to participate in and discuss politics are fully protected. Around 1,400 religious staff in Xinjiang serve with the local committees of the People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference to fulfill their jobs.

The harmony in Xinjiang has triggered unease from the anti-China forces in the US and the West. They hype up rumors and lies to achieve their ulterior motives. They turn a blind eye to the harmonious lives in Xinjiang led by the Communist Party of China and deliberately smear the situation in Xinjiang. This is shameless. 

The author is vice president of the Islamic Association of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn