China ‘proactively building’ image as Central Asian media bosses taken on Xinjiang tour

Heads of 21 media organisations from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have wrapped up week-long visit organised by Xinjiang authorities

Event is China’s latest attempt to project positive image of Xinjiang amid rights abuse allegations as it tries to build influence in Central Asia

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Uygur people outside the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, in China’s western Xinjiang region. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:11pm, 30 Aug 2023Updated: 6:29pm, 30 Aug 2023

China is “proactively building” the image of Xinjiang in Central Asia, an observer said, as authorities in the western Chinese region hosted media bosses from four former Soviet republics with deep cultural and historical connections to it.

The heads of 21 media organisations from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan arrived in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi on Thursday for a week-long visit organised by regional authorities, Chinese state media reported over the weekend.

Events during the trip included a seminar in Urumqi and a visit to the northern Hui autonomous prefecture of Changji, where they visited a power company with ties to Central Asia and a hi-tech agriculture park, official agency China News Service (CNS) reported.

They also travelled to the bustling city of Turpan and the Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture on the border with Kazakhstan, the report said.

“We all know that there is a lot of fake news about Xinjiang outside China. But we have seen Xinjiang with our own eyes so that we can better showcase its achievements,” a CNS video report broadcast on Monday showed the deputy editor-in-chief of the Interfax-Kazakhstan News Agency as saying.

The general manager of Silk Road Today, a media outlet based in the Kazakh city of Almaty, highlighted the future prospects of Xinjiang.