West has to discard prejudice to see real Xinjiang: China Daily editorial

In the developed world, strengthening public security is the most effective way of combating terrorism and safeguarding public order. Some Western countries have even extended the fight against terrorism to other countries and regions.

Yet when China establishes education and vocational training centers in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to educate and teach youths skills so they can earn a decent living and shun terrorism, the West resorts to double standard.

Western countries should look at the bigger picture, then they would realize the importance and effectiveness of China's policies, and the poverty of their own policies.

Believe it or not, China has tried most of the conventional methods to combat terrorism in Xinjiang. But despite its best efforts, terrorists and separatists plotted and carried out thousands of criminal acts in Xinjiang between 1990 and the end of 2016.

Which made China realize the cat-and-mouse game between security forces and terrorists would not end unless the roots of terrorism were weeded out.

Only after the education and vocational training centers were established in the region, particularly in the Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu prefectures, and the Kizilsu Kyrgyz autonomous prefecture, where the economy is less developed and people mostly live in remote villages, could terrorism be curbed. Not only has no terrorist attack taken place in the past two and a half years, but also tourists both from home and abroad have made 76 million trips to the region in the first half of this year, up 46 percent year-on-year.

And those questioning China's methods of fighting terrorism should know Xinjiang has become one of the safest places in China.

Terrorists and separatists in Xinjiang mainly prey on simple, uneducated Uygurs as they can be easily brainwashed. The confessions of many former "holy warriors" show that far from attaining "inner peace", they were mentally shackled after being indoctrinated by terrorists.

The education and training the trainees receive at the centers will not only help them get jobs in fields other than farming and animal husbandry but also is the most effective way of preventing them from falling into the trap of predatory terrorist groups.

The pursuit of knowledge and skills is accorded high value in the developed world. Why does it become questionable in China?

China's anti-terrorism campaign in Xinjiang is an invaluable contribution to the global war on terrorism, not least because it has allowed the people to live in peace and pursue a better life. The doubting Thomases in the West have to stop looking at China through their biased prism to see reality.