Many of my neighbors, classmates and friends were Muslims. After I joined the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing, I met many Muslim colleagues, one of them is the current Chinese Ambassador to Bahrain Mr. Anwaer, an Uighur Muslim.

There are over 20 million Muslim believers, 57,000 clerical personnel and 35,000 mosques across China. As stipulated in the Constitution, all Chinese citizens enjoy the freedom of religious belief.

The splendid Islamic civilization is an integral part of the human civilization. Both the Chinese and Islamic civilizations share a time-honored history. Since modern times, China and the Islamic world have always lent each other support and jointly advanced cooperation, which sets an example for exchanges between civilizations.

Recent years have witnessed rapid growth in China’s relations with Islamic countries. Since 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping has visited 16 Islamic countries. A total of 29 Islamic countries have established either a strategic partnership or a cooperative relationship with China. Five years ago, President Xi first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in Kazakhstan and Indonesia, two very important countries in the Islamic world.

Today, China has signed cooperation documents with 80 percent of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members on jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative. The Islamic world as a whole is China’s third-largest trading partner.

Since ancient times, Xinjiang has been a multi-ethnic region where different religions exist side-by-side. All 56 ethnic minorities in China can be found in Xinjiang. Major religions such as Islam, Buddhism (including Tibetan Buddhism), Christianity, Catholicism and Taoism coexist with other local religions.

Now, Xinjiang has around 13 million Muslims, 24,400 mosques, 29,000 clerical personnel and eight religious schools. By calculation, every 530 Xinjiang Muslims own one mosque, making the density of mosques per person in Xinjiang one of the highest in the world.

Today’s Xinjiang is a beautiful, richly endowed, harmonious and peaceful place. But it has not come easily. In fact, terrorism, extremism and separatism have long plagued Xinjiang. Since the 1990s, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement and other East Turkistan terrorist forces have plotted, organized and conducted thousands of violent terrorist attacks including bombings, assassinations, poisoning, arson, assaults, unrest and riots, causing the deaths of many people of different ethnic groups and religions including Muslims, as well as immeasurable property damage.

Particularly in 2009, the July 5 riot in Urumqi killed 197, injured more than 1,700 and caused colossal damage to property. Between 2003 and 2016, there were eight more serious violent terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, killing more than 120 and injuring more than 400.

It is fair to say that the issue related to Xinjiang is not religious but rather political. It is the manifestation of the struggle between unity and secession, peace and violence, and it is a matter of principle concerning China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. Therefore, the Chinese government has taken measures to resolutely combat terrorism, extremism and separatism, and in the meantime, special attention was given to preventing the association of violent terrorist activities and religious extremism with particular ethnic groups or religions.

By drawing upon the counterterrorism experiences from the international community and adapting to local conditions, Xinjiang has made thorough efforts in counterterrorism and de-radicalization. One of the effective measures is to provide free professional vocational training for those who are prone to be influenced by extremist ideas on a voluntary basis.

Through learning China’s national language, laws and expertise, trainees would abandon terrorism and extremist ideas voluntarily, therefore eradicate the ground where terrorism and extremism spreads. The trainees in vocational schools are paid for their work, and customs and habits of various ethnic groups and their beliefs are respected and protected.

While in school, trainees can contact their family through video calls, they can visit their families almost every week, and families also can visit trainees. After graduating, vocational schools will refer trainees to local businesses according to the skills they learned, so that these graduated trainees can find jobs, make a living and live a good life.

Past practices have proven that professional vocational training is viable and welcomed by people in Xinjiang. Now Xinjiang’s public security has notably improved. Since 2016, there hasn’t been a single violent terrorism incident. People are now feeling significantly more secure, and religious activities of different religions now enjoy more effective protection.

Not long ago, 12 foreign ambassadors to China, mainly from Islamic countries, and foreign press stationed in Beijing visited Xinjiang. They applauded the effectiveness of vocational schools in eradicating extremism, and believed that such a practice was worth learning for other countries.

Mr. Yousef Aldobaie, adviser to the secretary-general of the OIC, also visited many places in Xinjiang. He remarked: “the vocational schools he saw are quite different from what the western media has portrayed; these are beautiful, clean and orderly schools; China respects the Islamic world, and I am impressed by the fact that different ethnic groups, as well as Muslims and non-Muslims, live together in harmony in Xinjiang”.

Lately I have engaged in extensive exchanges with various groups in Indonesia, including the central and local government, the congress, media, religious groups and young people. I shared with them China’s religious policy and what is really happening in Xinjiang. In general, after learning the truth, Indonesian friends expressed understanding and respect for the Chinese side.

In mid-February, a delegation of major Indonesian Islamic groups including Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) visited Xinjiang. Shortly after, an Indonesian media delegation comprising Kompas, Antara, Metro TV, Detik, Liputan6 and others also visited Xinjiang. Their visits will help Indonesian friends to learn more about the real situation in Xinjiang.

Islam is a bond for China-Indonesia friendship, and the vast majority of Muslims living in both countries have participated and contributed to the China-Indonesia relationship. China and Indonesia have rendered mutual understanding and support to each other on issues concerning our core interests, such as territorial integrity and sovereignty, and combating extremism and terrorism.

More friends from Indonesia can go to China and see themselves, gain a full and objective picture of the real situation in Xinjiang and better understand and respect Xinjiang’s exploration and efforts to combat terrorism and eliminate extremism.

___________________

The writer is Chinese ambassador to Indonesia.

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