Xinjiang's Prosperity and Stability is the Best Answer to Malicious Defaming Rumors

　　2019年12月10日，驻巴基斯坦大使姚敬在巴《新闻报》《今日巴基斯坦报》《每日时报》《观察家报》等主流媒体发表题为《新疆繁荣稳定大局击破恶意抹黑谣言》的署名文章。全文如下：

　　新疆是中国距离巴基斯坦最近的地方。我们经常说的“中巴友谊比山高”，指的就是新疆与巴基斯坦之间的喀喇昆仑山脉。作为中巴经济走廊的起点和“一带一路”丝绸之路经济带建设核心区，新疆社会和谐稳定、经济持续发展、人民安居乐业，处于历史上最好的繁荣发展时期。

Xinjiang is the nearest place of China to Pakistan. When we say that "China-Pakistan friendship is higher than mountains", it refers to the Karakoram Mountains between Xinjiang and Pakistan. As the starting point for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the hub area of the Silk Road Economic Belt within the framework of "Belt and Road" Initiative, Xinjiang has maintained social stability, achieved economic growth and improved lives for the people. It is in the best time for prosperity in history.

　　然而，国际上有一些势力和个人不愿看到和平发展的中国，不愿看到和谐稳定的新疆，不断发表大量罔顾事实、颠倒黑白的荒谬言论，粗暴干涉中国内政，蓄意诋毁中国新疆人权状况，污蔑抹黑中国去极端化和打击恐怖主义的努力，离间中国与穆斯林国家关系，企图破坏新疆繁荣稳定的大好局面。

However, there are some forces and individuals in the world who neither want to see the peaceful development of China nor a harmonious and stable Xinjiang. They continue to make a lot of noises which ignore the facts, and call black white. They rudely interfere in China's internal affairs, deliberately vilify the human rights situation in Xinjiang, slander China's efforts in de-radicalization and combating terrorism, and try to wedge the friendly relations between China and Islamic states to undermine the prosperity and stability of Xinjiang.

　　事实胜于雄辩。新疆和平解放70年来，在中国共产党的坚强领导下，经济社会发生了翻天覆地的变化。2018年新疆地区生产总值突破1747亿美元，较1952年增长200倍；城乡居民人均可支配收入分别较1978年增长101倍、99倍。旅游业成为高质量发展的重要引擎，去年来疆旅游人数突破1.5亿人次、增长40%以上。新疆现有清真寺、教堂、寺院等宗教活动场所2.5万座，其中清真寺2.44万座，平均每530位穆斯林就拥有一座清真寺。今天新疆人口达2500万，少数民族人口占总人口的59.9%。各族人民像石榴籽那样紧紧抱在一起，像珍视自己的生命一样珍视民族团结。

Facts speak louder than words. Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, Xinjiang has undergone enormous economic and social changes in the 70 years since its peaceful liberation. In 2018, Xinjiang's gross domestic product (GDP) topped 174.7 billion U.S. dollars, up 200-fold increase over 1952. In last year, Xinjiang's per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents increased 101-fold and 99-fold respectively over 1978. Tourism has become an important drive in high-quality economic development of Xijiang. In 2018, over 150 million people visited Xinjiang, with an increase of 40%. Nowadays, there are 25,000 places for religious activities, including 24,400 mosques. On average, there is one mosque for every 530 Muslims. Xinjiang has a population of 25 million, the minority population accounts for 59.9% of the total population. The people of all ethnic groups hold together like pomegranate seeds, cherishing national unity as much as their own lives.

　　涉疆问题根本不是人权、民族、宗教问题，而是反暴恐和反分裂问题。新疆曾经深受极端主义、暴恐活动之害。自上世纪九十年代至2016年，境内外民族分裂势力、宗教极端势力、暴力恐怖势力在新疆策划并组织实施了数千起暴恐案件，造成大量无辜群众罹难，数百名公安民警殉职，对各族人民生命财产安全造成极大危害，严重践踏了人类尊严,也极大地阻碍了新疆的经济发展和社会进步。2009年7月5日，境内外“东突”势力里应外合，组织策划实施了震惊中外的乌鲁木齐市打砸抢烧严重暴力犯罪事件，共造成197人死亡、1700多人受伤。面对严峻形势，新疆自治区政府依法打击暴恐活动，同时重视源头治理，积极推进去极端化工作，包括设立职业技能教育培训中心，帮助受暴恐极端思想“洗脑”的人摆脱极端思想和恐怖主义影响、提高自身职业技能，而绝非什么所谓“集中营”。这完全符合联合国《防止暴力极端主义行动计划》的要求。这些措施确保了新疆3年来未发生一起恐怖袭击事件，受到新疆各族人民的普遍支持，也为全球反恐事业作出了积极贡献。

Xinjiang-related issues are not about human rights, ethnicity or religion, but about fighting violence, terrorism and separatism. Previously, Xinjiang suffered gravely from extremism, violence and terrorism. From the 1990s to 2016, China's Xinjiang, under the combined influence of separatists, religious extremists and terrorists, has suffered from thousands of violent terrorist attacks, with a large number of innocent civilians and police being killed. Those terrorist attacks are detrimental to the life and property of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and have trampled on people's dignity, and they have gravely hampered the social and economic development in Xinjiang. On July 5th, 2009, the domestic and foreign terrorist forces of "East Turkistan Movement", organized and implemented a serious violent crime involving smashing and burning in Urumqi, killed 197 people and injuring more than 1,700, including Muslims, which shocked the whole China and the world.

Faced with severe circumstances, the government of Xinjiang Autonomous Region lawfully fought violent and terrorist crimes while addressing the root causes and actively promoting the de-radicalization work, including the establishment of the vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang. Its aim is to help those people who are "brainwashed" by violent and extreme thoughts to get rid of the influence of terrorism and extremism, as well as to improve their vocational skills, which has nothing to do with the so-called " concentration camps". It is also fully in line with the UN Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism. Thanks to those efforts, Xinjiang hasn't seen a single terrorist attack over the past three years. Those endeavors are endorsed by all 25 million people of various ethnic groups in Xinjiang. It is also China's contribution to the global counter-terrorism cause.