NORMAL AND PEACEFUL: Men from various ethnic groups play basketball in Kashgar City on June 30 (CFP)

In 2012, Xinjiang's GDP rose to 750 billion yuan ($120 billion) from 428 billion yuan ($69 billion) in 2009, according to official statistics.

Kurbanjiang Mehmet, 50, runs a clothing shop at Kashgar's Grand Bazaar. "We really hope more people would come to Kashgar, but the tension in Xinjiang scared away many tourists, who think Xinjiang is a dangerous place," he said. "But it is not the truth."

"We business people definitely hope Xinjiang's image as a peaceful and stable region can recover soon and tourists have more confidence in this wonderful land," Mehmet said.

Abdoulie Aygul, a silk merchant from Urumqi, attended the Ninth Mid-South Asia Trade Fair in Kashgar on June 28. "Xinjiang is not as dangerous as many people from other places think," she said. "But I heard some people canceled trips here because of the so-called potential risks. It is unnecessary."

Twenty-eight-year-old Huang Wenfang, an official with the Information Office of the Xinjiang Regional Government, said that tightened security measures in Urumqi make her feel very safe and well-protected. "Terrorists did disrupt Xinjiang's stability, in a way," Huang said. "False rumors spread on the Internet about how terrible the situation is here. This is unfair for Xinjiang."

Int'l cooperation

The so-called "East Turkestan" forces that represent the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism have resulted in multiple terrorist attacks in Xinjiang in recent years, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing in Beijing on July 1.

The "East Turkestan" forces are linked to other international terrorist organizations, which have posed threats not only to China, but to the peace and stability of other countries in the region, Hua said.

"East Turkestan" separatists and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), listed by the UN as a terrorist group, have been connected with Al Qaeda since their establishment and share supplies with them.

According to Pan with the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, in addition to terrorist attacks carried out in Xinjiang, "East Turkestan" separatists also joined terrorist acts in Chechnya in Russia, Afghanistan and Syria.

It was reported last October that "East Turkestan" terrorist forces, as represented by the ETIM, had joined the fight in war-torn Syria.

"However, the West has been holding a double standard on the definition of terrorism. If the 'East Turkestan' separatists carry out evil deeds in Xinjiang, some Western opinions whitewash them as seeking 'national self-determination.' Only when their acts threaten their domestic security would Western countries change their attitudes," Pan said.