Xinjiang doubles down on telling its story, courting trade, tourism

Campaign comes as China seeks to dispel accusations of human rights violations

- Tan Dawn Wei

URUMQI - Xinjiang has doubled down on a campaign to shed its blemished international image as well as entice domestic tourists to visit, as the vast autonomous region attempts to spur its economy amid a widespread slowdown.

For the first time, it invited a group of foreign journalists, including from The Straits Times, and journalists from Hong Kong and Macau, to cover the opening ceremonies of its annual twin advisory and legislative session its most important political event of the year which recently concluded.

It also welcomed China-based diplomats from Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Mongolia and Belarus. All are members or observers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional defence grouping spearheaded by China and Russia.

The move to open its doors - at least partially, since the foreign journalists had no access to meetings was apparently well-supported by Xinjiang party chief Ma Xingrui, a former governor of Guangdong province whom political pundits believe was moved to the far-flung north-western region to steer its economic development.

He had replaced Mr Chen Quanguo, who was widely blamed for a crackdown targeted at extremism among the region's Uighur ethnic minority. Xinjiang came into international focus during his tenure from 2017 to 2021 for its re-education camps and other anti-terror measures that have branded China as a human rights abuser.

That portrayal is one that Mr Ma and the Xinjiang government have been eager to change, as officials up and down the chain of command persist in "telling the Xinjiang story well".