Nearly 10,000 residents dance in local Dolan Maxrap folk style in Awat county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Oct 9, 2018. Photo:Xinhua

China's foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday slammed attempts by some foreign organizations and media to smear China's efforts in combating terrorism and extremism in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, stressing that such moves are doomed to fail.

Xinjiang region has maintained political stability, ethnic unity, religious harmony and social harmony, which are the most powerful ripostes against these smears, foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at Wednesday's press conference.  

The comments came after some Western media simultaneously released the so-called Karakax list, which they called the third batch of "leaked documents" from Xinjiang, and attacked China's anti-terrorism measures in the region, amid China's fight against the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia.

The Global Times on Tuesday reported that Chinese experts questioned the authenticity of the so-called leaked documents as they were initially spread by anti-China and "East Turkistan" forces and then hyped by Western media. Judging from the way these topics were hyped, there is a possibility that some foreign intelligence agencies may also be involved.

Xinjiang affairs are purely China's internal affairs, and we will not allow outside forces to interfere in China's internal affairs through the Xinjiang-related issue, Geng said.

Anti-terrorism measures taken by the Xinjiang regional government in accordance with the law have ensured that there has not been a single terrorist attack in Xinjiang in three years. These measures have been widely supported by the 25 million people from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and have received positive comments from the international community, including some Muslim countries. They have also made positive contributions to the global fight against terrorism, Geng said.

The Chinese government protects the freedom of religious belief of Chinese citizens. There are nearly 200 million religious believers in China, more than 20 million people of whom are Muslims. Xinjiang region has 24,400 mosques.