Xi has urged authorities in Xinjiang to take a hard stance against religious persecution.
During his visit to the autonomous territory on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged authorities to do more to promote the integration of Muslims and to limit unlawful religious activities.
During a discussion with Urumqi’s local government leaders, Xi emphasized the need of maintaining social stability. The necessity of long-term stability and peace in Xinjiang was emphasized.
Over the last decade, Xi has increased state monitoring and expanded a labor program that Western opponents say is equivalent to forced labor in an area that is home to millions of Muslim Uyghurs. Accusations of human rights violations in Xinjiang have been repeatedly refuted by China, which has even gone so far as to label them “the lie of the century.”
Xi stressed during his trip that stability in Xinjiang is essential to the region’s continued economic growth. Xi has said that the area may expand its resource-based enterprises and should construct additional agricultural and solar industrial parks. He also promised to back efforts to improve economic ties between Xinjiang and regions farther to the interior of China.
The United States added two additional firms to its so-called entity list earlier this year, thus expanding its prohibition on imports from Xinjiang.
