China’s Xinjiang invites overseas media to annual political meetings for first time as it aims to improve image

Xinjiang is home to 25.85 million people, of which 14.93 million are members of ethnic minority groups, including Uygurs and Kazakhs.

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Various media outlets were invited to take part in a media tour to Urumqi to cover a handful of events hosted by local authorities, including the opening ceremonies of the annual meetings of the region’s advisory body and legislature.

Ten news organisations from Hong Kong and Macau, including the Post, and four overseas news groups sent reporters.

The foreign media outlets were Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Indonesia’s Antara news agency, Kazakhstan’s state-run news agency Kazinform and The Straits Times of Singapore.

Representatives from eight foreign embassies in China – Belarus, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia – also visited Urumqi and attended the opening ceremonies of the political meetings.

Xinjiang has frequently hosted envoys and media figures from the eight countries over the past two years, and religious figures from Muslim countries in the Middle East and Indonesia have also been invited to visit the region.

A Xinjiang official said they had also invited representatives of the US embassy in Beijing on the tour, but the invitation was not accepted. The official added that they had tried to invite a number of international media, but did not disclose the list.

Members of the media were subject to strict pandemic controls for the regional two sessions, and all journalists were asked to take a Covid-19 test.

Xinjiang Daily said on Saturday that inviting foreign media “will help the world objectively acknowledge Xinjiang’s efforts to fight terrorism and maintain stability”.

However, clear limits were imposed on media coverage. Only mainland Chinese media were given full access to certain panels and discussions at the gatherings – similar to the press protocols for the annual national two sessions in Beijing.

Overseas media were seated on the balcony and were not able to directly talk to deputies of the meetings.

Xinjiang would “strengthen pragmatic cooperation with neighbouring countries, especially the five Central Asian countries”, Xinjiang governor Erkin Tuniyaz said as he read out the regional government’s annual work report on Tuesday.

Tuniyaz is among the Xinjiang officials who have been sanctioned by the United States for alleged human rights violations in the region.

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The topic of sanctions came up during the meetings.

Although the region has claimed a “landslide victory” against terrorist attacks, security remains an important topic.

Tuesday’s government work report stressed that Xinjiang would keep a “tough stance” to maintain social stability, meaning counterterrorism.

But this year, maintaining stability appeared towards the end of the report’s “outlook” section outlining the region’s priorities, while it had been the top priority for the Xinjiang government from 2015 to 2020.

Li Juan, director of a body responsible for drafting local laws for the Xinjiang People’s Congress, told the Post that “the training centres have played a very big role in Xinjiang’s fight against terrorism”, adding that the world should learn from Xinjiang’s approach.

She warned that the “three forces” – terrorism, separatism and religious extremism – were still active in countries neighbouring Xinjiang, adding that Xinjiang authorities were prepared for “a long, arduous and even acute struggle against terrorism”.