The Point: Publicity official discusses media reports on XinjiangPosted by Funch Hovgaard on May 19th, 2021 Welcome to the point anvishin my special guest today is mr shukuy xiang, deputy head of the department of publicity and the department of united front work of the party committee of the xinjiang region. Welcome mr xu, you have been at the forefront at the fight against disinformation against xinjiang and this - and this has been a very difficult three years. What is the biggest challenge to your work? I think one of the biggest challenges has been presenting a real xinjiang to the world so that the world understands what is really going on here. In order to do that, we have to make a lot of efforts. One of the important measures has been to bring in international visitors since the end of 2018. We have been inviting more people from all walks of life to visit xinjiang, many of whom are western journalists and journalists from non-western countries in terms of both the autonomous region and my own job. We sincerely welcome them to come and report on xinjiang joshua when western media come what's on their camera or what they learn should also be a very stable, peaceful and well-developed xinjiang. So i feel there are still many obstacles when we try to present the real xinjiang to the world. What are some of the specific obstacles you had to overcome, and why do you think there is such a gap between what the journalists write in their news story and what they found out here? I think the stereotypes about xinjiang are still there on their minds. We provided help to the best of our abilities after the reporters came. We were also in active contact with them to understand where they'd like to go. We did our best to get them there and show. I think it's because some journalists may have an inherent bias, including ideological prejudice, or that they have a preconception or a negative outlook when they came to xinjiang. But a journalist's very basic job is to present their real shinshon to show what they have seen. We do not expect them to sing praises of xinjiang, but what's really going on in xinjiang as long as they can tell a true story, then i think it's worth the trip. Some people say: there's no transparency in xinjiang that western or independent journalists cannot come here and find out about the situation themselves. Therefore, they cannot trust anything that you i mean the authorities say about this place. Is there any restriction towards western journalists to welcome foreign media, including western media, to come to visit xinjiang? We hope they can come more often. What is actually happening is that they are visiting xinjiang either through the arrangement of the chinese ministry of foreign affairs, or they come on their own. Whichever channel they are more than welcome. For example, the bbc. They had a few journalists visit xinjiang in may 29th and uh [ Music ]. We were very responsive in getting to know their. I gave them my views because i have some knowledge and understanding of the situation based on my long-term work experience here after the interview they said they agreed with some of my views. Then we ask them where they would like to go and we try our best to help. They mentioned a few places. We arranged their visits, including one on the exhibition on xinjiang's counterterrorism, de-radicalization efforts to the xinjiang islamic institute to education and training, centers and face-to-face interviews with local people. They were very happy with the arrangements. There is also the worry or the concern that, while they're gathering their news stories interviewing people because of the presence of people from your office or from the local authorities, the interviewees are not able to speak freely. Is that the case? It'S totally untrue in the process of reporting, when the reporter was talking to local people, we left them alone. Why? Because some media previously argued that if i or other xinjiang officials were on site we'd be seen as surveilling the reporting or hindering their work. So we intentionally avoided it to give the journalists the maximum space to do their job freely. In fact, that's exactly what we did at almost the end of the bbc team's trip. They requested an extra interview. We respected that and came back to urumqi and let them stay around kashgar in hotel for more reporting, so there was no interference or hindrance to the reporting, based on my own experience, it's totally untrue that we interfered with their work done. However, when i watched their programs that were later broadcast, i was shocked. The images they used were, for example, the education and training centers students in class dancing or their daily life school scenes and so on, but in the narration they use words like concentration camps, persecution and so on. That was my first response. Second, i didn't get it. Why did they thank us for arranging things well and assured us? They had seen the real xinjiang during our face-to-face talks, but fabricated. The whole thing when they were gone? How much did he use of the conversation he had with you and whether he gave uh? True reflection, true representation of what you told him, they did not quote much of what i said actually for the limited conversation that i had with them. They managed to show some of my views. The key problem is the bbc program, shows normal teaching and living scenes of the education and training centers, but the narration is completely fabricated, using words like concentration camp. I think this contradicts itself and intends to mislead the audience. Well. Such reporting is actually quite impactful. It attracts millions of clicks on youtube and when it's broadcast through bbc world a lot of people around the world will be able to see it. What kind of negative impact has such reporting had on your work? Uh? First of all, it seriously distorted the facts, because the real situation in xinjiang is completely different, but since the bbc is an internationally established brand, this certainly created distortion about xinjiang and seriously misled the world. However, i believe there are many well-informed people in the world who have objective rational and independent judgment, even though the bbc used words like concentration camp in their narration. The footage doesn't show such things at all, and there is no concentration camp like this across the world. I believe those people have their independent judgment. After watching the program they can tell black and white, see the problem with the reporting and come to realize the irresponsibility of the bbc. As a well-known, there seems to be this kind of dilemma that if you don't accept their interview, you are not being transparent, you're, not helping facilitating their work. But if you accept their interview, maybe they only use a few second of their interview, um with you, or they could twist what you said into actually making their point. How do you look at this kind of dilemma? First, we still need to be frank and objective to media reporters coming to report on xinjiang. Responsible media should respect facts and be objective in the reporting in xinjiang. This is where we start. Secondly, we also hope that our media friends follow the professional ethics of journalism and report xinjiang in a reliable, objective and unprejudiced manner. Of course, there were many journalists, including western journalists, who came and helped introduce xinjiang to the world. Our attitude is to see common ground while shelving differences. I think it's normal to have different opinions about xinjiang, especially between people from inside and outside china. On the premise of respecting facts, i think it's perfectly fine for us to study and discuss it. That said, we are firmly against those journalists or media that deliberately distort facts and even attack and smear xinjiang by flagrantly disregarding facts and violating professional ethics, we will debunk them on every occasion. As we often say, the truth lies in black and white fact is fact. The reality is, xinjiang is not something that can be easily distorted by a few filters used by media networks like bbc some people also say um. It is one thing to come and gather news materials. It is another thing to write about it and to publish it. This is what they call press freedom, they have the right to publish whatever they see fit and you can't really interfere. How do you look at that um, it's true that they have the freedom, but such freedom should be based on the respect for facts. If a journalist confuses white with black, i don't think he is a responsible journalist. That'S typical! For some western politicians that's a breach of journalistic ethics and undermines his identity as a journalist. They are not welcome here. It seems there is a kind of political correctness in there and over recent years, that kind of uh correctness has been growing stronger and stronger. Why is that uh, whatever she found industry in the childhood? I think this reflects the anxiety of some political forces in the west. They want to play the xinjiang card to contain china, but the game gets harder with the growing strength of china and the stable development of xinjiang, which consolidates peace and harmony. They are getting very anxious. That'S why the recent war of words is so intense. As i said, the development of xinjiang puts them on pins and needles. Another reason is that xinjiang has been open and frank in its communication with the world, including international media, that has shown the vast majority of people are real shinjan. That makes their slander nothing but a cliche, including the so-called concentration camps and persecution. There are no such things as they allege. Has anyone seen what they claimed existed? So more people have started to realize the real situation in xinjiang. So it's getting more and more difficult for their lives. This also drives up their anxiety in terms of their rhetoric and behavior. They have deviated further and further from international law and the norms of international relations, even professional. I said that some anti-china forces in the west have gone hysterical. instagram themes vsco are going out of their way to attack and smear xinjiang. However, these slurs do not wipe out the development and progress of xinjiang people with insight, know it more and more people have come and seen the real xinjiang. Therefore, i think it's a dead end for the west's conspiracy sooner or later, it's just a matter of time. We treated them as friends. Besides interviews and research, we also exchanged thoughts and ideas with each other. I feel that not all these journalists are bad. They have their own thoughts on certain issues. They have their own inner worlds, and many of them are righteous people with a strong sense of justice. Is it different from what you imagined? I have to say that these journalists were frank with their answers. They said they did not expect xinjiang to be like this. One concerning the possibility of visiting xinjiang - i understand there is the concern that some western diplomats, if they're, not able to talk to the high-level government official they wish to see or go to places that they wish to go to. Then it doesn't make sense for them to come here. How do you react to that number went through the chandelier? I think we need to see through this and understand the deep intention. Let me give you an example. An international organization has repeatedly expressed their wish to visit and visiting certain places. We'Ve made very detailed arrangements, but meanwhile they put forward some unreasonable demands. For example, the eu proposed to meet with some criminals in prison. We thought that was an unfounded and excessive request, which amounted to interference in the internal affairs of our country. There is a bottom line in terms of dealing with that um. We actually issued invitations to officials from the united nations european union and office of the high commissioner for human rights a while ago, hoping they can come visit as soon as possible, of course, on the condition that they come here to understand the real situation in xinjiang. If they are here to investigate a preconceived crime or search for evidence to support their prejudice, they are wrong from the very beginning and they are not welcomed. Like about visits by western diplomats or officials, there seem to be two different kind of narratives. On the one hand, china says it has repeatedly invited united nation officials or western officials to come and see for themselves. On the other hand, western governments are accusing china of not allowing these officials or their diplomat or their diplomatic representatives to visit xinjiang and see for themselves. Why are there such a discrepancy? So put it bluntly, some western politicians presume there are concentration camps in xinjiang to them. The visit by the office of the high commissioner for human rights or other international organizations is about. Have they ever seen a concentration camp [, Music ]? Is there any single one for human rights or the eu? Xinjiang has never ever had concentration camps, they never existed coming. In fact, from 2018 to 2019, xinjiang witnessed a boom of tourists, although this was interrupted by the pandemic. In 2020, xinjiang has hospitable people of all ethnic groups and a stunning landscape. It would be a pity to ms xinjiang as a tourist destination. We warmly welcome all tourists and work to provide good service so that everyone can have a good time in xinjiang.Like it? Share it! |