Senior Chinese official says all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live happily ahead of visit by UN human rights chief

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Uploaded: 2022-03-23T14:41:10.000Z
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Wang Yang, who heads the party’s Xinjiang group, talked up the region’s economic prospects as Beijing’s focus shifts away from security towards development

Wang was visiting ahead of next month’s trip by the UN human rights chief following reports of mass detentions and the use of forced labour

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Residents in Hotan queue at a security checkpoint outside a bazaar. Photo: AP

Mimi Lau

Published: 10:41pm, 23 Mar 2022Updated: 12:36am, 24 Mar 2022

All ethnic groups in Xinjiang are living happily, according to a top Beijing official who hit out at “smears” and “slanders” ahead of May’s visit by the United Nations human rights chief.

Wang Yang, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee who heads the party’s Xinjiang affairs leading group, became the most senior figure to visit the region since a leadership reshuffle in December.

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Electric carmaker Tesla under fire for opening Xinjiang showroom

Beijing has denied that it is responsible for large-scale human rights abuses in the region, including the detention of around a million mainly Muslim Uygurs in reeducation camps and use of forced labour.

“Xinjiang is looking at an unprecedented development opportunity. It must utilise its regional positioning and resource-rich advantages based on a solid foundation laid down by social stability and good policies,” Wang said, according to a report by the state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday.

“We must forge the material foundation of long-term political stability and refute smearing and slandering by enemy forces with the fact that all ethnic groups live happily.”

His inspection trip, which began last Friday and ended on Tuesday, included visits to the major cities of Urumqi, Kashgar and Hotan, as well as rural communities, schools, businesses and mosques.