BEIJING, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- The China Islamic Association on Thursday expressed strong indignation over and firm opposition to the passage of a Xinjiang-related bill by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The so-called "Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019," which was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday local time, has ignored facts, smeared and groundlessly criticized the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Chinese government's Xinjiang policies, according to a statement issued by the association.
Freedom of religious belief has been guaranteed in Xinjiang and the fine traditional cultures of ethnic minorities have been protected and carried forward since New China was founded in 1949, the association said in the statement.
With a population of over 25 million, Xinjiang has 56 ethnic groups including Uygur, Han, Kazak, Hui and Mongolian, with the co-existence of various religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity, wrote the statement.
Islam is widely followed by people of 10 ethnic minorities including the Uygurs, Kazaks and Hui, with 24,400 mosques across the region and 29,000 Islamic clerics such as imams, showed the statement, adding that various efforts have been made by the regional government to ensure the freedom of religious belief of Muslims.
Since 1996, the regional government has arranged chartered flights to help local Muslims of different ethnicities complete their pilgrimages and provided quality services for their leaving or entering of the country, medical care and dining.
Each year during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, Muslims in the region have the complete right to choose to fast or not without any intervention and local governments of different levels work to ensure market supply for festivals such as Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, and security of religious events, said the statement.
The regional Islamic association has actively organized events to interpret or preach religious texts of Islam, translate the Koran and other Islamic religious works into languages of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, compile and publish reading materials of religious knowledge, launch websites in the ethnic language of Uygur and journals for local Muslims, and make efforts to run the China Islamic Institute's class for Xinjiang students and the Xinjiang Islamic Institute.
The association also said that the Islamic circle in Xinjiang has been actively supporting the regional authorities' de-radicalization efforts, with many patriotic religious leaders interpreting Islamic doctrines for those influenced by religious extremism.
"We urge the United States to respect facts and stop using religious or human rights issues to interfere in China's internal affairs and hurt the feelings of Chinese people," it said.
