A webinar was held on Sep.24th to give a true picture of the population growth and human rights protection in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and rebut overseas smears against the region’s population policies.
 
Since the foundation of the PRC, Xinjiang has seen steadily improved living standards and better human rights protection. From 1978 to 2018, the total population in Xinjiang increased from 12.33 million to 24.86 million. The number of students at schools has risen from 10,200 to 398,700. The mortality rate has dropped substantially from 20.82‰ to 4.56‰. Health conditions of all ethnic groups in the autonomous region have been noticeably enhanced.
 
Fu Zitang, vice president of the China Society for Human Rights Studies (CSHRS) and president of the Southwest University of Political Science & Law (SWUPL), said that it is obvious that Xinjiang has made great achievements in both population growth and human rights protection. Some overseas anti-China elements clothed in academic coats intentionally ignore facts, call white black and cook up the so-called reports with impartial statistics to circulate the rumors about compulsory sterilization in Xinjiang. We must make a firm rebuttal to present truth.
 
Lin Fangfei, associate professor at the Politics and Public Administration School of Xinjiang University, said the lies about Xinjiang’s population policies were fabricated by Germany “scholar” Adrian Zenz. Lin pointed out that the natural population growth rate in Xinjiang has been stable with a slight decline since 2010. It’s caused not by birth control but by the freedom of choice for women in reproductive behavior, which is closely related to the improvement of women’s rights protection in recent years. That indicates the great achievements in gender and ethnicity equality.
 
Suvingden, a colonel at the Myanmar Police Force, said that terrorists often use racist slogans to pick up fights. Only an environment featuring security, peace and development could guarantee harmony between all ethnic groups.
 
The sideline meeting, organized by the SWUPL, was sponsored by China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office at Geneva and Other International Organizations in Switzerland and the CSHRS.