Foreign news

Xinjiang religious freedom fully guaranteed: report

Published

5 years ago

November 4, 2020

The Islamic Association of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Tuesday released a report on freedom of religious belief in the northwestern Chinese region.

Recently, some anti-China forces from the United States and some other Western countries have been wantonly spreading fallacies that Xinjiang “restricts freedom of religious belief” and “demolishes mosques by force,” the report said.

Disregarding facts, these groundless claims have severely hurt the feelings of Muslims in Xinjiang and aroused strong indignation and opposition, the Islamic Association of Xinjiang said in the report.

The right to freedom of religious belief in Xinjiang is fully guaranteed and normal religious activities are carried out in an orderly way, said the report.

Muslims’ dietary habits, festivals, wedding and funeral practices, and customs and rituals are also respected in Xinjiang, it said.

Thanks to the strong support of the government, the conditions of mosques have been improved across the board, and they have been equipped with running water, electricity, natural gas, heating, and communications facilities. Roads leading to mosques have been improved to make access easier, said the report.

In addition, governments at all levels in Xinjiang have taken effective measures to help religious organizations and religious schools improve their working and teaching conditions. The Xinjiang Islamic Institute has built its new campus as well as eight branches across Xinjiang.

Since 1996, many Muslims have taken charter flights arranged by the government to make pilgrimages to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Up to now, more than 50,000 Muslims in the region have completed the pilgrimages.

Religious personages’ right to participate in the deliberation and administration of state affairs is fully guaranteed, the report stated.

More than 1,400 religious personages from all ethnic groups in Xinjiang serve as deputies to the people’s congresses or members of committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference at all levels to exercise the right to participate in the deliberation and administration of state affairs, it said.

“Seeing the religious harmony in Xinjiang, some people in the United States became fretful, fabricating and selling a set of lies and fallacies in order to achieve their hidden agendas,” the report said. “In fact, the United States itself is plagued with serious religious discrimination.”

“We urge the U.S. to pay more attention to religious discrimination on its own land, stop politicizing religious issues, let alone desecrate the holy name of religion, because any rumor and slander cannot deny the fact that freedom of religious belief is guaranteed in Xinjiang,” the report said.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency

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Foreign news

NTAC Hails Tinubu; Volunteers Ready to Positively Impact Nigerians

Published

4 days ago

June 4, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) has commended President Bola Tinubu for funding the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) Scheme.

The Director General (DG) of NTAC , Dr Yusuf Yakub, made the commendation during a ceremony to receive five returning TAC volunteers from Zanzibar, Tanzania on Tuesday in Abuja.
The returning volunteers also expressed readiness to impact knowledge gained from participating in the programme on Nigerians.

TAC is a mechanism for Nigeria’s foreign aid and technical assistance to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through the use of Nigeria’s abundant trained manpower.

Yakub lauded Tinubu’s visionary leadership and steadfast support for the TAC Scheme.

Welcoming the volunteers who had discharged themselves as worthy ambassadors in Zanzibar, the D-G thanked them for their patriotism, dedication to service and for making Nigeria proud on the international arena.

The NTAC boss highlighted the importance of knowledge-sharing, while announcing that certificates of completion will be presented to the volunteers in line with the noble objectives of the service.

He also emphasised the volunteers’ crucial role in passing on the skills and experiences gained in Zanzibar.

He expressed optimism that their efforts would positively impact the lives of Nigerians across the country and shape the expectations and service-delivery of future prospective volunteers.

Earlier speaking, Amb. Zakari Usman, the Director of Programmes for NTAC, expressed gratitude to the D-G for his unwavering support and provision for the volunteers throughout their service period.
He said that the volunteers had so delivered on the mandate of the agency that citizens of Zanzibar did not want them to leave their country.
Popoola Adegoke, the Team Lead and a Mathematics Instructor for the batch of returning volunteers, was full of gratitude to the Federal Government for providing them the opportunity to participate in the scheme.

Adegoke said that Nigeria, was well blessed and had the abundance of both human and natural resources to contribute meaningfully to the development of many countries of the world.

He said that the need to continue the TAC Scheme was not negotiable, owing to its high impact and results.

Mohammed Salisu, a Physicist, said that the experience had broadened his horizon as his orientation during the last 24 months in Zanzibar, especially on the cultural exchange.

He lauded the government for the scheme, saying that Nigeria is seen and perceived to be higher in all ranking, especially in the standard of living and educational system.

He also appealed to the government to sustain the scheme to close the gaps both the educational and professional systems in the African, Caribbean and the Pacific Countries.
NAN

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