Xinjiang officials say they will fight back against Western efforts to ‘use region to contain China’
- Region’s party chiefs say they will start new drive to generate favourable publicity about region, where they have been accused of widespread human rights abuses
- Article in Communist Party journal also says diplomatic initiatives and efforts to use the law to counter Western sanctions will be stepped up
In article for the Communist Party’s leading ideological journal Qiushi, the regional party committee said it would step up the use of legal mechanisms to counter these criticisms and “proactively carry out struggles against external [forces] on Xinjiang-related issues”.
The commentary, which was published on Sunday, continued: “[We should] strengthen the building of legal systems related to foreign affairs, the ability to fight in accordance with the law and safeguard [China’s] legitimate rights and interests, and resolutely defeat attempts by US-led Western countries and anti-China forces to ‘contain China through Xinjiang’.”
It pledged to step up the “bringing in” of foreign visitors in the hope of generating favourable publicity and “go global” to boost the region’s profile.
It also said they would seek to “comprehensively … tell China’s Xinjiang story” by producing films and songs to promote its official narrative.