URUMQI, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Foreign friends who are objective and impartial are welcome to visit China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, an official said Friday.
Li Xuejun, deputy director of the standing committee of the regional people's congress, made the comments at a webinar, adding that Xinjiang also firmly opposes anyone who is biased or engages in investigative activities based on the presumption of guilt.
The webinar, titled "Xinjiang is a wonderful land," was co-organized by the Xinjiang regional government and the Chinese Embassy to New Zealand.
Memetili Turgun, from Bachu County of Xinjiang's Kashgar Prefecture, used to be deeply bewitched by extremism.
"The extremists incite us to sacrifice ourselves to violent and terrorist activities in order to turn humans into demons," he recalled.
His life was turned around when he was persuaded by his family to receive training at a local vocational education and training center. After graduation from the center, he got a job at a real-estate company, earning about 10,000 yuan (about 1,500 U.S. dollars) a month.
"It is the education and training center that has given me a rebirth. I'm very grateful," said Memetili Turgun.
More than 1,200 people from over 100 countries and regions, including officials from international organizations, diplomats, journalists and religious leaders, have visited Xinjiang since the end of 2018, official statistics show. Enditem
