28 BEIJING REVIEW AUGUST 29, 2019 http://www.bjreview.comA
phone call from a stranger changed
Rezia Rahman’s life as well as the
lives of dozens of others in north-
west China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region.
As Rahman told reporters in a docu-
mentary on counter-terrorism produced
and aired by state broadcaster China
Central Television, she was instructed by
her brother’s “friend,” a person she had
never met or seen, to take part in a terror
attack that killed 10 people and wounded
dozens more in Luntai, a county in Xinjiang,
on September 21, 2014.
She came to realize the enormity of
her action when she saw a photograph of
one of the victims: A young girl who loved
dancing was struggling for her life in a hos-
pital, having lost a leg in the attack.
”It’s impossible to go to heaven by kill-
ing people,” a weeping Rahman said in the
documentary.White paper on Xinjiang
Between 1990 and 2016, separatists, reli-
gious extremists and terrorists carried out
a spate of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, from2014 to 2018, more than 580,000 house-
holds were lifted out of poverty in Xinjiang,
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Because of the environment in the
region in the past, residents were easily
incited to violence. “[Religious extremists]
deny the concepts and achievements of
modern secular civilization, inciting fol-
lowers to ‘engage in a holy war and die for
their beliefs in order to enter heaven’,” the
white paper says.Worldwide efforts
Early intervention is regarded as an ef-
fective way to address the root causes of
people’s radicalization. Countries around
the world that have known turmoil are fo-
cusing on early intervention.
In Australia, the state approach is to
offer streams of activity, including an early
intervention program, to help people move
away from violent ideologies and recon-
nect with their communities, according to
the Australian Government’s website.
In Denmark, the De-Radicalization—
Back on Track project was launched in
2011 with the aim of helping people rein-
tegrate into society after serving a prison
sentence.
Internationally, de-radicalization is
done in three ways: through legislation,
intervention programs and community-
based mechanisms, said Li Wei, an expert
on anti-terrorism with the China Institutes
of Contemporary International Relations.
People referred to intervention pro-
grams are chosen based on their actual
radical behavior that tends to develop into
terrorism, Li added.
“De-radicalization is done differently
in different countries according to their
national demographics, history and cul-
ture as well as values,” Han Na, a lecturerbombings and assassinations to riots, killing
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cers, who died in the line of duty, according
to a white paper, Vocational Education and
Training in Xinjiang, issued by the State
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The southern part of Xinjiang was
gravely impacted by protracted religious
extremism. One reason was its geography.
Close to the Taklimakan Desert, the largest
desert in China and the world’s second larg-
est shifting sand desert, it is an extremely
arid and remote area gripped by poverty.
About 90 percent of the Uygur community
living there had limited means of commu-
nication and employment opportunities,
since they could not read and write in
the standard spoken and written Chinese
language due to low educational levels.
Farming and animal husbandry were the
major means of livelihood, but the incomes
they generated were inadequate as the
farmers were mostly illiterate in modern
science and used outdated equipment.
Imbalanced development is one of the
main problems in China and the authorities
are now focused on addressing it. FromEducation, skills and social integration help prevent extremism in Xinjiang
By Li Fangfang
Point of Return
XINHUAA visiting diplomat plays table tennis with a trainee at
a vocational education and training center in Kashgar,
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China,
on June 20NATION