Dancers perform for tourists in Urumqi, Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on January 1, 2024. Photo: VCG

The delegation of deputies to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region held a meeting open to domestic and foreign media on Thursday during the ongoing two sessions. The delegation refuted the West's slanders and stressed to continue opening-up.

Despite the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism driven by their goal of splitting the country remaining active in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the opening-up cannot be halted because of those factors, the Party chief of Xinjiang said on Thursday on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions, noting that combining opening-up and stability is one of the key tasks for the region.

Ma Xingrui, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Party secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee, met the domestic and foreign media on Thursday in Beijing.

Xinjiang will fully and accurately implement the Party's Xinjiang governance strategies by coordinating development with security and openness with stability, to demonstrate new achievements and a new outlook in building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation, said Ma.

In response to the question of the so-called "cultural genocide" of the Uygur ethnic group, a Xinjiang deputy to the NPC said such a statement is a complete rumor and the fine traditional cultures of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have been effectively passed on.

He added that cultural activities with rich content and diversified forms are widely held in Xinjiang every year and such activities have become normalized.

Besides, the spoken and written languages of various ethnic groups are also widely used in Xinjiang. Both the local radio, television, and newspapers will use different languages to broadcast and publish programs and content, the lawmaker said.

Meanwhile, the traditional sports of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang have been fully developed. Up to now, Xinjiang has 280 sports of traditional ethnic groups. Over 500 cultural inheritors and professional actors from Xinjiang performed on the Xinjiang's Kashi stage of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala.

In response to the question about Western accusations of the so-called "forced labor" in Xinjiang's cotton industry, another deputy to the NPC from Xinjiang said the snow-white cotton is their treasure. "We grow cotton to make money, buy cars and properties, live good life, so why do we need to be forced to grow cotton?" the deputy asked.

According to the deputy, they grow cotton with unmanned vehicles in summer and spray the insecticide with drones and every household has cotton pickers. Only the cotton grown in a small number of scattered and marginal areas is picked by hand.

"So, do we force the machines to work?" he asked.

By imposing sanctions on Xinjiang's cotton textile industry under the guise of "forced labor," the US is essentially trying to create "forced unemployment" and "forced poverty" in Xinjiang, in an attempt to undermine Xinjiang's prosperity and stability and curb China's development, according to the deputy.

Global Times