URUMQI, Sept. 7, 2019 -- An international seminar on anti-terrorism, de-radicalization and human rights protection was held Friday in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

 

Over 60 experts and scholars from 18 countries and international organizations including France, India, Turkey, Afghanistan and China attended the seminar, sponsored by the China Society for Human Rights Studies.

 

The experts and scholars visited an exhibition on Xinjiang's major terrorist cases, the Xinjiang Islamic Institute in Urumqi, a vocational education and training center, the ancient city of Kashgar and the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar on Wednesday and Thursday.

 

Eliminating the threats of terrorism and extremism, safeguarding people's lives and safety and ensuring that the people can live in a peaceful social environment are major issues that any responsible government in the world should face up to and deal with, said Jiang Jianguo, deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee at the opening ceremony of the conference.

 

The law-based vocational education and training centers have effectively eliminated the breeding ground for extremism and ensured the basic human rights of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including the right to life, health and development, said Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the regional government. It has not only achieved social stability in Xinjiang, but also effectively guaranteed regional security, he added.

 

Countries and international organizations should strengthen cooperation, encourage dialogue between different beliefs and civilizations and ban terrorist acts according to law to secure a more peaceful living environment for everyone in the world, said Ibrahim Alsheddi, member of the advisory committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

 

Countries should support each other as equal comrades-in-arms in the fight against terrorism and for human rights, said Predrag Markovic, vice president of the Socialist Party of Serbia.

 

The Chinese government has taken positive measures to protect its citizens' religious freedom and the traditional culture of ethnic groups, said Abdul Wahid Wahid, senior advisor to the Minister of Haj and Religious Affairs of Afghanistan.

 

Christian Mestre, a professor with the University of Strasbourg in France said that during his visit to Xinjiang, he saw that effective measures against terrorism and extremism had been taken in the region, and these measures had pushed forward the region's economic and social development.

 

This has set an example for different countries to fight against terrorism and extremism and should be supported, he added.