China's state-run English newspaper, Global Times, reported on Saturday that following a meeting with  eight Islamic associations, the government officials "agreed to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to Sinicize the religion."

Islam is not allowed in some parts of China as media reports said "individuals caught praying, fasting, growing a beard or wearing a hijab facing the threat of arrest."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said during a regular press briefing: "On your second question, Xinjiang is an open place. We welcome all parties, including UN officials, to visit Xinjiang on the condition that they abide by Chinese laws and fulfill relevant procedures."

He said UN officials should refrain themselves from interfering into their internal affairs.

"Meanwhile, all parties, including UN officials and experts, shall abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and refrain from interfering in others' internal affairs or undermining others' sovereignty," Lu said.

"They should adopt an objective and unbiased attitude and avoid buying one-sided stories or making preconceptions. We would like to remain in contact with the relevant UN agency and meet each other halfway," he said.

Xinjiang province in China is home to Muslim Uighurs.

According to media reports, over one million Uighurs have been kept in mass internment camps in the region.

Foreign diplomats in Xinjiang:

An official from the publicity department of Xinjiang, who requested anonymity, confirmed with the Global Times on Monday that foreign diplomats from 12 countries, including Russia, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan and Pakistan were invited to visit vocational training and education centers in Xinjiang in late December. 

Li Wei, a Beijing-based anti-terrorism expert, who was invited to visit the education centers in Xinjiang in November, told the Global Times that many of the 12 countries face the threat of extremism similar to Xinjiang and the visit of the diplomats to the centers would facilitate exchanges on de-extremism measures.

"Xinjiang's de-extremism measures have taken effect and helped to build a stable society. While many other countries, which have been suffering from extremism and terrorism, have yet to find an effective way," Li said.

No violent incidents happened in 23 months, which is considered an achievement of Xinjiang's current de-extremism efforts, experts told the newspaper.

"Some of the 12 countries have close anti-terrorism cooperation with China. For example, China has brought back terrorist suspects from Xinjiang who fled to the Middle East via Thailand. And the southern part of Thailand is also affected by terrorism," Li said.

Recently, Global Times reported that country had passed a law to "Sinicize" (meaning to make Chinese in character) Islam in the next five years.

"China passed a five-year plan to sinicize Islam at a meeting on Saturday with representatives from China's eight Islamic associations. During the meeting, participants agreed to guide Islam to be compatible with socialism and implement measures to sinicize the religion. This is China's important act to explore ways of governing religion in modern countries," Global Times said in an opinion piece.

Defending the "Sinicization" of Islam move, the report further said: "Generally speaking, modern countries are secular and diverse in a globalized world. But the revival and spread of religion have somewhat impacted secular society. Fundamentalism has caused more religious violence and religious nationalism is threatening countries' legitimate governments and leading to social instability."

"Governing religion is a common challenge faced by all modern countries. The main purpose of China's five-year plan to sinicize Islam is to seek governance that tallies with Chinese practice, and it is not only limited to Islam," it said.

World Uyghur Congress reacts to fresh developments:

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC), which in its website claims itself as an international organisation that represents the collective interest of the Uyghur people both in East Turkistan and abroad, said it implores the international community to press for unfettered access to East Turkistan as well as to all camps where up to two million Uyghurs and other Turkic groups are arbitrarily held, following a recent indication from a Party member that the UN may be granted access. 

In a statement on January 6, the region’s governor, Shohrat Zakir, remarked to press that, “We will welcome any of the UN experts to visit Xinjiang to know the real situation and we hope their comments will be based on facts and ground realities.”

Despite mounting evidence compiled for over a year showing over one million arbitrarily detained and suffering unimaginable rights abuses, Zakir provided the Party’s oft-repeated narrative about the camp system, calling them ‘vocational training centers’ meant for skills training.

Uyghur Congress President, Dolkun Isa, in response to reports of the possible visit remarked that, “We know that China likes to show-off its success, so why did it take so long to invite observers to East Turkistan? If these so-called ‘vocational training centers’ existed since 2017, why are we only hearing about them now?”

Isa continued by pointing out that, “It’s so clear what China’s game has been all along. The international community has to be very careful not to fall for it.”

The political indoctrination camps were opened on a large-scale in April 2017 and have been well-documented by civil society, journalists, academics as well as Uyghurs themselves in a growing body of eye-witness testimony. The camps are extralegal facilities, as detainees are not formally charged, but are detained primarily for communication or travel abroad, or expression of religious sentiment.

The camps include ideological study sessions, forced renunciation of religious beliefs, as well as forced marches and chants. Torture has been reported from many former inmates as have suicide attempts and numerous mysterious deaths so far. The camps stand as the culmination of many other policies attempting to socially re-engineer the entire Uyghur ethnic group.

Zakir’s statement follows a clear narrative shift from complete denial to an effort to normalise the camps. The government made a slight admission of the existence of the camps during a critical review by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in August 2018.

Recent reporting from Radio Free Asia and The Epoch Times has also indicated that the Chinese government may be preparing for international inspections by improving the appearance of the camps and having detainees in some locations sign confidentiality agreements regarding camp details.

Image: World Uyghur Congress