BEIJING, November 26 (INP): A spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry while rejecting the negative propaganda of the Western media towards Xinjiang, said China fully respects the religious belief of the Muslims and other minorities,

The spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a regular press conference that for some time, some western media have been happy with making rumors on Xinjiang-related issues, and some countries and politicians are proud of the hot spots.

These smearing and slandering accusations reflected the double standards they have adopted in counter-terrorism and depolarization issues, and they sinister intention to interfere in China's internal affairs through Xinjiang-related issues.

The spokesperson re-emphasized that there are no ethnic, religious, or human rights issues in Xinjiang. The Chinese government protects the freedom of religious belief of Chinese citizens, including Xinjiang Uygurs and other ethnic minorities.

There are nearly 200 million religious believers in China, of which more than 20 million are Muslims, more than 380,000 religious staff, about 5,500 religious groups, and more than 140,000 places for religious activities registered according to law.

There are 24,400 mosques in Xinjiang, and an average of one mosque per 530 Muslims. This information can be found in seven white papers on Xinjiang issued by the Chinese government since 2015.

The Western media have accused of attacking the anti-terrorism and de-extremization measures taken by Xinjiang's local governments. From 1990 to the end of 2016, thousands of violent terrorist incidents occurred in Xinjiang, causing a large number of innocent casualties and property damage.

Since Xinjiang has severely cracked down on violent and terrorist crimes in accordance with the law and attached importance to source control, there have been no violent terrorist incidents in the region for three consecutive years. Social stability, national unity, and people live and work in peace.

Since the end of last year, thousands of foreign envoys, officials of international organizations, and media have visited Xinjiang, and they have personally seen the remarkable results of Xinjiang's preventive counter-terrorism and de-extremization measures.

The spokesperson emphasized once again that they will continue to do our own thing well, implement our Xinjiang governance policy, and continue to develop and build Xinjiang. Xinjiang's continued prosperity and stability, national unity, and social harmony are the most powerful responses to individual media and individuals.

We urge individual western media and people to stop thinking and use inferior methods to speculate on Xinjiang-related issues and tailor up rumors and lies in Xinjiang.

It is better to give up their inherent prejudice and obsession as soon as possible, and really make efforts to deepen their understanding of Xinjiang, he added.

INP/JAVED