Farmers receive training at a night school in Kashgar in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on May 29 (XINHUA)  

On June 17, the White House announced that U.S. President Donald Trump had signed the so-called Uygur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020, which has triggered outrage in China. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China and other authorities have firmly opposed the so-called act.

It slanders and groundlessly criticizes the human rights situation in Xinjiang as well as its counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts that have ensured Xinjiang's stability and development.

Since the establishment of the autonomous region in northwest China on October 1, 1955, it has taken remarkable strides in economic and social development. Through efforts including establishing vocational education and training centers and fighting terrorism and extremism in accordance with the law, terrorist activities have been effectively curbed and people's rights to life, health and development safeguarded.

In the past three years, per-capita income in Xinjiang has grown at an average annual rate of over 8 percent, exceeding other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China. Since 2014, more than 470,000 new urban jobs have been added annually, with the registered urban unemployment rate below 4.5 percent. Normal religious activities have been protected in accordance with the law. People enjoy the right to use their ethnic languages and practice their cultures.

The real intention of the so-called U.S. act is to sow discord among the ethnic groups in China, harm Xinjiang's prosperity and stability, and contain China's development. It is a stain on justice.

Using Xinjiang-related issues as a tool to pursue selfish gains at the expense of other countries' peace and development interests, the self-proclaimed "human rights defender" has become a stumbling block in the way of the cause of international human rights.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Xinhuanet.com on June 20)    

(Print Edition Title: Human Rights in Xinjiang)