Read RFA coverage of this story in Uyghur.
China used a London travel show to promote its narrative of Xinjiang in the West and encourage tourism in the far-western region, despite the government’s ongoing repression of the nearly 12 million mostly Muslim Uyghurs who live there.
The event sparked criticism from human rights activists, who have spoken out against Beijing’s efforts to falsely show foreign visitors that Uyghurs in Xinjiang are thriving.
The Bureau of Culture and Tourism of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region staffed a booth called “Xinjiang is a good place” at the World Travel Market trade show in London on Nov. 5-7.
Attendees could learn about “the most magical charm of Xinjiang” and “experience the diverse ethnic culture,” said a description of the booth on the trade show’s website.
Staff handed out coupons for hotels, scenic spots and ski resorts to participating guests to encourage more international visitors to travel to Xinjiang, a report in the Chinese state-run Global Times said.
The exhibition was part of a larger presentation on “high-quality tourism development in China.”
Rights groups, including the Uyghur Human Rights Project based in Washington, have denounced such trips as “genocide tourism,” accusing China of sanitizing its violations of human rights in the region.
They have cautioned Western travel companies not to participate in this kind of tourism and criticized the World Travel Market for providing a platform for China to portray a whitewashed image of the situation in Xinjiang.
Rights groups also have accused the Chinese government of using the event as a stage to cover up and justify what the U.S. government and the parliaments of several Western countries have deemed a genocide and crimes against humanity.
Their accusations are based on credible reports of widespread and systematic human rights violations, including mass detentions, cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, forced sterilizations of women, and the forced separation of children from their parents.
Nicholas Bettles, head of strategic partnerships at World Travel Market London, declined to comment. The trade show’s press officer, Becca Krug, did not respond to an email request for comment.
Portraying Xinjiang as ‘great success’
Henryk Szadziewski, research director at the Uyghur Human Rights Project and co-author of a report on tourism in Xinjiang said China was using the travel fair to try to show the world the “success” of its “Xinjiang policy” in stabilizing the region.
He said this was the first time China sent Xinjiang tourism officials to the World Travel Market, which holds six annual business-to-business events across four continents.
The Chinese government uses tourism as a proxy to show visitors “very carefully curated parts of the region and then reporting back to the world that the region is now a great success,” Szadzieski said.
More than 10 domestic tourism enterprises from Xinjiang along with eight other Chinese provinces and cities, made their debut at the World Travel Market, China’s Global Times reported.
“As ‘China Travel’ heats up thanks to visa-free policies, Xinjiang welcomes visitors to experience its magnificent landscapes and appreciate the beauty of the region,” Guli Abulimu, director of Xinjiang’s Department of Culture of Tourism, was quoted as saying.
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The China Daily, another state-run media outlet, said “the intangible cultural heritage, literary and creative products, and tourism brochures showcased at the Xinjiang booth captivated numerous international exhibitors, immersing visitors in the allure of Xinjiang.”
“Their enthusiasm and keen interest in Xinjiang’s tourism offerings sparked collaborative efforts to further enhance the region’s appeal,” the report said.
Radio Free Asia called China’s National Tourist Office in London, but staffers refused to comment on the criticism by human rights groups.
A staff member working at the trade show dismissed rights groups’ warnings about travel to Xinjiang amid the repression of Uyghurs there as “misleading news from certain media outlets.”
Rahima Mahmut, the U.K. director of the World Uyghur Congress and executive director of the group Stop Uyghur Genocide, said showcasing Xinjiang at the World Travel Market was part of the Chinese government’s image-building campaign.
“For the past seven years, the Chinese government has been widely seen as carrying out genocide,” she said. “In an attempt to counter this perception, they claim there is no such thing happening and invite people to take a tour to see the ‘real’ Xinjiang.”
“They argue that Uyghurs have their own culture, speak their own language, and sing their own songs,” Mahmut said. “In reality, they are creating false narratives to try to repair their image.”
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.