Trips to Xinjiang Condemned by Experts as 'Genocide Tourism'

The Chinese government has opened its doors to tourists in Xinjiang, selectively inviting those it deems worthy, according to media reports. While diplomats, journalists, and individuals considered "friends of China" were previously allowed, officials are now positioning the restive far-western region as a tourist destination to improve China's global image amidst accusations of human rights violations, as reported by Radio Free Asia.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin stated that in 2023, nearly 400 delegations and groups, totaling over 4,300 people from various countries and international organizations, visited the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Despite these efforts, human rights groups have criticized the dissemination of propaganda and China's attempts to reshape Xinjiang's image.

Claudia Bennett, a legal and program officer at the Human Rights Foundation, revealed that the orchestrated visits mask harsh realities such as forced family separations, arbitrary detentions in concentration or forced labor camps, and the plight of thousands of Uyghurs living in exile, forcibly rendered stateless. She emphasized that the Chinese Communist Party strategically organizes propagandist visits for diplomats, journalists, and religious scholars to legitimize its colonization of the Uyghur region, calling these tours an attempt to whitewash gross human rights violations.

The Uyghur Human Rights Foundation (UHRP), based in the United States, labeled these visits as "genocide tourism" in a report released on August 30. The UHRP claimed that such tours aid China in concealing genocide and crimes against humanity occurring in Xinjiang. Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, went further, condemning collaboration with China's propaganda as complicity in genocide—a grave crime. He warned that those involved would be held accountable before history, asserting that humanity and the Uyghur nation would not forget.

(With Agency Inputs)