Xinjiang, A Land of Wonders
我们新疆好地方
Liu Jinsong, Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan
驻阿富汗大使刘劲松
31 October, 2018
2018年10月31日
China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is a very familiar place for Afghan friends. It shares border with Afghanistan, and it takes only three hours for Afghan friends fly from Kabul to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. The ancient Silk Road linked Chinese Xinjiang with Afghanistan closely.
中国新疆维吾尔自治区是阿富汗朋友十分熟悉的地方，她与阿富汗有着共同的边界。阿富汗朋友坐飞机从喀布尔直飞到新疆的首府乌鲁木齐，只需要3小时。古今丝绸之路，将中国新疆和阿富汗紧紧联系在一起。
Xinjiang is my hometown. I spent seventeen years there in my childhood, nurtured by both water from Mount Tianshan (the heavenly mountain) and care from teachers and elders of different ethnic groups. Naan and pilaf are my favorite food. I still remember that kids of different ethnic groups went to school and played together like members of a family. We visited each other frequently and all rushed to celebrate festivals of different ethnic origins for the abundant snacks and fruits on those occasions.
新疆是我的家乡，我在那里度过了17年的童年少年时光，天山雪水滋养了我，各民族师长教导了我，馕和抓饭成了我最爱的食品。记得小时候，不同民族小朋友亲如一家，一齐上学，一道玩耍，互相串门，各民族的节日大家都争先恐后参加，因为能吃上各种好吃的点心和水果。
Xinjiang is a land of treasure. There is a song depicting the beautiful and richly endowed autonomous region. “Our Xinjiang is a land of wonders. Beautiful pastures extend to the North and South of Mount Tianshan. Grasses bow in the breeze, revealing flocks and herds. We have grapes and melons sweet and fragrant, mineral deposits abundant.”
新疆是一块宝地，一首歌生动描述了新疆的富饶美丽：“我们新疆好地方，天山南北好牧场。风吹草低见牛羊，葡萄瓜果甜又香，煤铁金银遍地藏。”
In the 1970s when I grew up in Xinjiang, life was hard for my family and our neighbors. The four people in my family lived in a bungalow of only a dozen square metres with a leaking roof. I had to help my parents by joining various queues to buy everyday necessities with all kinds of ration coupons. With reform and opening up, Xinjiang has also achieved leapfrog economic growth and higher living standards like elsewhere in China, with people moving into bigger houses and enjoying an increasingly rich array of goods. Ration coupons have long become collectibles. Today in Xinjiang, most urban households have a private car. Per capita income reached nearly 8000 US dollars in 2017, a 128-fold increase over 40 years ago.
我在新疆成长的上世纪70年代时，自家和邻家的生活都比较艰难。我家四口人曾住在只有十几平米、不时漏雨的平房里，我要帮大人去排队用各种票据买生活必需品。随着中国改革开放的推进，新疆和内地一样实现了经济飞跃和人民小康，房子越搬越宽大，商品越来越丰富，票据成了收藏品。在今天的新疆，大多数城市家庭有了私家车。2017年全疆人均收入接近8000美元，40年增长了128倍。
In Xinjiang, over 23 million people live on the land of 16 million square kilometres. Many of them are either Uygur, Han, Kazakh or Hui. Some other minority groups are also familiar for Afghans, such as the Tajiks, Uzbeks and Kirghiz (called the Khalkhas in China). People of different ethnic groups live together in harmony. We treat each other as equals, help each other in times of need, and jointly defend and develop the system of regional autonomy for ethnic minorities. Under this basic political system, people of all ethnic groups manage local affairs autonomously while safeguarding the principle of national unity. Chief administrative officers of all autonomous regions, prefectures and counties are all from the relevant ethnic groups. Now nearly 100,000 civil servants in Xinjiang are ethnic minorities.
新疆160多万平方公里土地上生活着2300多万居民，维吾尔族、汉族、哈萨克族和回族人口相对较多，还有一些少数民族阿富汗民众很熟悉，例如塔吉克族、乌兹别克族，吉尔吉斯族在新疆叫做克尔克孜族。这些民族和谐相处，平等相待，守望相助，共同守护和发展着民族区域自治制度。基于这一基本政治制度，各族人民在维护国家统一的原则下自主管理地方事务，自治区主席、自治州州长、自治县县长均由实行区域自治的民族的公民担任。目前新疆的少数民族公务员接近10万人。
Many of my friends in Xinjiang are devout Muslims. My home was actually very close to a mosque and I heard the calls to prayer every day. Compatriots of different ethnic groups respect each others’ customs and religious beliefs. Both the Corban (Eid Al-Adha) and the Spring Festival are grand festivals and holidays celebrated by all locals. There is a large proportion of Muslim population and a high per capita share of religious facilities. The government respects and protects the freedom of religious belief and administers religious affairs according to law. Religious services facilities and normal religious activities are protected. The government even provides charter flight for pilgrims to perform the Hajj to Mecca every year.
我在新疆的很多朋友都是虔诚的穆斯林，我的家旁边就有清真寺，每天都能听到宣礼声。新疆各民族同胞十分尊重彼此的风俗习惯和宗教信仰，古尔邦节、春节都是当地盛大的节日和假日。新疆的穆斯林人口占比和人均宗教设施拥有量很高。政府尊重和保护宗教信仰自由，依法管理宗教事务，宗教活动场所和正常宗教活动受到保护，政府每年还安排包机组织信教群众前往麦加朝觐。
On July 5th, 2009, the severe violent terrorist attacks in Urumqi shocked the whole China. Nearly 200 people died and more than 1700 were injured in the event. Violent terrorists slaughtered the innocent people in the Nanmen Square, where used to be a place for all people to rest and entertain themselves. For some time around the date, a series of crimes were committed by violent terrorists, who demonstrated extreme cruelty, showed no mercy even to women or children and violated the teachings of the religion that they had claimed ownership. The inhuman criminals trampled upon lives and challenged the rule of law, leaving the people in Xinjiang extremely upset and streets desolate for quite some time.
令人震惊的是，2009年7月5日，乌鲁木齐发生了严重暴恐事件，造成近200人死亡、1700多人受伤。乌鲁木齐的南门广场原本是各民族民众休憩娱乐之地，暴恐分子却在此地杀戮无辜群众。在此前后，新疆内外发生了一系列暴恐分子实施的犯罪行径，手段极其残忍，妇嬬也不放过。暴恐分子违背伊斯兰教义，毫无人性，践踏生命，挑战法治，令新疆有一段时间人心惶惶、市井萧条。
People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang hate the violent terrorists bitterly. With the public opinion in mind, the government has taken resolute measures to crack down on the “three evil forces” of terrorism, separatism and extremism and restore long-term social stability, peace and order. In the past two years, with great significance attached to both crackdown and prevention, the government has on the one hand continued to strike hard on the few serious violent terrorist crimes and on the other taken measures to develop vocational and technical education and training to de-extremize the population concerned. Efforts are made to win over, help, educate and rectify people with minor offences and to influence and save those young people who were affected by messages in any form of violence or terrorism or by illegal preaching.
新疆各民族人民对暴恐分子切齿痛恨，政府顺应民意，采取坚决措施，依法严厉打击恐怖主义、分裂主义和极端主义等“三股恶势力”，确保社会稳定和长治久安。这两年来，政府坚持“一手抓打击，一手抓预防”，既严厉打击少数严重暴力恐怖犯罪，又重视开展源头治理，通过开展职业技能教育培训实施去极端化，最大限度地团结、帮助、教育、矫正有轻微违法犯罪的人员，感化挽救那些受到暴恐音视频和非法传经影响的年轻人。
Vocational and technical education and training are provided according to law and designed to suit and serve the target groups. They have taken some people away from the slippery slope towards committing crimes and becoming victims of the “three evil forces” by enabling them to distinguish between truth and falsehood, raising their law awareness and citizen consciousness and empowering them with the standard national language ability and income-generating skills so as to support themselves in modern society.
职业技能教育培训有法可依、依法施教、以人为本，避免了一些人进一步滑向犯罪成为“三股势力”的牺牲品，让他们明辩是非，增强法治和公民意识，同时也让他们适应现代生活，掌握国家通用文字，拥有一技之长，今后走上社会能够自食其力。
The Chinese government respects and protects the basic human rights of all citizens. This is written in the Chinese Constitution. In Xinjiang, to contain extremism and crack down on violent terrorists represents the utmost need to protect the basic human rights of local citizens. The people support the comprehensive policies of the government whole-heartedly. As there has been no violent terrorist event in the past two years, people feel safe and relaxed and they may now sleep with a peaceful mind. Restaurants and cinemas may now open till late night. Last year, per capita income of Xinjiang residents increased by over 8%. In the first three quarters of this year, more than 130 million domestic and foreign tourists visited Xinjiang. Quite some Afghan friends recently went to the Grand Bazaar in Urumqi and the Kashgar Old Town. They visited the bustling night market and spoke well of the prosperity and peace. Such a situation has not come by easily.
中国政府尊重保护全体公民的基本人权，这已写入中国宪法。在新疆，遏制极端主义，打击暴恐分子，就是最大限度地保障当地公民的基本人权。新疆民众非常赞成政府的综合施策，因为近两年新疆再没有发生暴恐事件，大家感到安全和舒心，晚上可以安心睡觉了，餐厅影院可以开到深夜了。去年新疆居民人均收入增长率超过8%，今年前三季度超过1.3亿人次的国内外游客到访新疆。不少阿富汗朋友最近参观了乌鲁木齐的大巴扎和喀什的老城，还去逛了熙熙攘攘的夜市，由衷赞叹这里的繁荣与祥和。这一形势来之不易。
Afghanistan and China’s Xinjiang are joined by common mountains and rivers. Standing both along the Silk Road Economic Belt and at the forefront of international antiterror war, we are a community of shared future. When Afghanistan fares well, it is good for Xinjiang; and vice versa. Badakhshan Province and Xinjiang Autonomous Region have signed an agreement of intent to develop a friendly province/region relationship. Xinjiang provided much needed assistance to victims of drought in Badakhshan. In the past year, two Afghan leaders attended the China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, many groups of Afghan professionals accepted training in Xinjiang, a hundred Afghan children with congenital heart diseases had operations in Urumqi and were cured, and over 4000 Afghan friends visited Xinjiang. For ordinary Afghans, the autonomous region promised to be the roofs of your friends, neighbors and relatives and a reliable interchange station to Chinese inland, a reassuring school and a trustworthy place for business.
阿富汗与中国新疆山水相连，同处丝绸之路经济带和国际反恐斗争前沿，双方是命运共同体。阿富汗好就是对新疆好，新疆好也是对阿富汗好。今年巴达赫尚省与新疆自治区签署了建立友好省区关系的意向协议，新疆向巴省旱灾灾民提供了雪中送炭的帮助。一年来阿两位国家领导人出席了在乌鲁木齐举办的中国-亚欧博览会，多个团组的阿方专业人士在新疆接受培训，百名阿先心病患儿在乌鲁木齐接受手术后获得痊愈，超过4000人次的阿富汗朋友到访新疆。新疆，对阿富汗民众而言，是朋友、邻居和亲戚的家，是令人放心的中转站、大学堂和经商地。
Last year His Excellency Second Vice President Sarwar Danish published an article titled “Lessons from the World’s Second Economy” after visiting Xinjiang. He described the unity of different ethnic groups there as pomegranate seeds holding tightly to one another. In his opinion, the successful experience of Xinjiang shows that the people must work together with the government and seize the opportunity to open up and achieve development, that the private sector should also be patriotic while pursuing economic gains and that the soil for radical or violent organizations must be eliminated from the society. He encouraged people from all walks of life in Afghanistan to learn more from the Chinese culture, language and experience and in this regard quoted Prophet Mohammed: “Seek knowledge, even it’s as far away as in China”.
去年，阿富汗第二副总统丹尼什阁下访问新疆后发表了《向世界第二大经济体学习》一文，表示他亲眼看到新疆各族人民像石榴籽一样紧紧抱在一起。他说，新疆的成功经验表明，民众必须与政府互动，抓住开放和发展的机会。私营经济体除了追求经济利益，还须履行爱国责任。整个社会应消除激进和暴力组织生存的土壤。他鼓励阿各界加强对中国文化、语言和经验的学习，并引用了先知穆罕默德的名言：“为了求知，哪怕远在中国！”