Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the northwestern autonomous region of Xinjiang last week to mark its 70th anniversary. In 1955, less than a decade after the establishment of the modern Chinese republic, the border area was officially established as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Today, it often makes headlines over reports of human rights violations of its minority Uyghur Muslim community, and for Beijing routinely rejecting those allegations. A recent Chinese state media opinion article began by saying, “The 70th anniversary… calls for exposing the lies spread by the West, especially Western politicians and media, about the naturally beautiful, culturally rich, politically stable, ethnically harmonious and economically thriving region.”

During his visit, too, Xi

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