Diplomats from 14 countries visit Xinjiang

The envoys also visited the old town in the city of Kashgar and experienced the tourism boom in the run-up to the May Day holiday. Zaw Linn Oo, consul general of Myanmar in Chongqing, hailed Kashgar as a "land of hope" that is attractive to both local and distant visitors.

"A country needs social stability and economic development, and both are well-reflected in Kashgar," he said.

Mehmet Mert Tokman, Turkish consul general in Chengdu, paid a visit to the region years ago. During this visit, he said that the land has a rich heritage and has undergone tremendous development and change, which can be seen particularly in the region's incredible infrastructure construction achievements.

Giving high praise to the local government's efforts to guarantee people's freedom of religious belief, Ben Perkasa Drajat, Indonesian consul general in Guangzhou, said that Muslims in Xinjiang are free to go to the mosque to pray, after visiting the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar and the Xinjiang Islamic Institute. "The news from the Western media that the Chinese government doesn't allow Muslims to do religious activities is not true."