China’s President Xi visits far western Xinjiang region for first time in 8 years

Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the far western region of Xinjiang on July 12-13, 2022, on his first trip to the area in eight years. The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is seen as a sensitive topic, with Beijing blaming years of violent attacks in the area on predominately Muslim ethnic Uygur separatists. The central government has taken a series of tough measures against what it calls terrorism and extremism, drawing criticism from Western nations including the US, which has accused Beijing of genocide against the Uygur population.