Chinese President pays first visit to Muslim state of Xinjiang

In a rare visit to the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang province on Saturday, August 26, Chinese President asked the authorities of this autonomous region to maintain the “hard-won social stability in this area”.

According to the Chinese state network, Xi Jinping urged the local authorities of the region to run deep promotional campaigns to give a Chinese color to Islam and propagate it among the population, and to effectively control illegal religious activities in the region.

This is the first visit of the Chinese president to Xinjiang since July 2022, coming to the region inhabited by a majority of Muslim Turkic Uyghurs.

The recent visit of the President of China to the Muslim state of Xinjiang took place while the restrictions and pressure against the Uyghur Muslims have been increasing for years.

Several international human rights organizations as well as the United Nations have repeatedly published reports of crimes against humanity and oppression against Uyghur Muslims.

These organizations strongly criticized the torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, forced sterilization, sexual violence and forced separation of Uyghur parents and children by the Chinese government.

According to human rights organizations, more than one million Uyghurs are imprisoned in hundreds of camps in Xinjiang.

In contrast, Beijing has repeatedly rejected reports of ill-treatment against Uyghur Muslims, claiming that educational and cultural programs in the camps have helped to eradicate extremism in the region.