Recently, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov and more than 30 envoys and diplomats of relevant countries in China visited China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. In an exclusive interview with Liu Xin, a reporter from CGTN, Vladimir Norov shared his observations on the field visit in Xinjiang. He said that Xinjiang's development is obvious to all, how can a Xinjiang with such rapid economic development not be open? The world can no longer be deceived by lies.
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Liu Xin, reporter of China International Television: I believe you have seen the relevant reports on the "accusations" against Xinjiang in some international media, and after your on-the-spot inspection of Xinjiang, have you gained a better understanding of the situation?
SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov: Yes, I see that some international media are full of such information. As far as the cotton industry is concerned, we can see that the mechanized harvest rate will reach 84%, or 85% this year. The machines are produced in Aksu, Xinjiang, one of the major cotton producers, and the technology used in the cotton industry is impressive, and we also visited a textile factory in Aksu that is highly modern and infrequently operated by hand, where there are about 5,000 employees, 90% from local ethnic minorities, such as Uighurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities. As for their living conditions, it can be said that not only do we see where they work, there are very modern looms that every textile power dreams of, we also visit their living areas, their accommodation areas and kitchens, their staff meals are free, of course, they can also choose additional meals at their own expense, they can choose their own. Of course, Muslim employees are provided with halal food, and the salary level is also very important, with an average monthly salary of about 600 to 900 US dollars, which can be said to be a very high level in the textile industry (in income) in developing countries, which is remarkable. I am referring to the salary level of the textile industry in my own country, so before making these accusations and stirring up everyone's emotions, I must first conduct a field trip, and after reading it, we also have a saying in Asia: it is better to hear than to see.
Liu Xin, reporter of China International Television: But some people say that if you look at Xinjiang, it is not open, there is no transparency, they don't let people see it, they don't want others to see it, or they only show what they want people to see, not all of it. What do you think?
SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov: I do not agree with this view, because it is impossible for Xinjiang today not to be open, because the economy has been developing, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the 8 SCO countries (including observer states) border Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan and other countries, there are some restrictions on people-to-people exchanges during the epidemic. (In the first three quarters of 2019) the number of tourists coming to Xinjiang reached nearly 180 million, there were about 70 million foreign tourists in Xinjiang before the new crown pneumonia epidemic, Xinjiang is expected to receive 200 million tourists this year, and it will reach 400 million in 2025. So I totally disagree with that view because we have the opportunity to see everything we want to see, we are free to visit where we want to go, which is why the schedule is so tight that we don't have time to rest, and any of our requests are possible.
(Edited by Wang Hexiang)