The Real Xinjiang: Let the data speak

"If you want to drown your dog, accuse it of having rabies." This French proverb has been used by American scholar Barry Sautman to describe the West's smear campaign against northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Professor Sautman first visited Xinjiang in 1999 and has returned frequently ever since. Over the years, he has seen the development and changes in the region up close. In an academic study, he compared various quality-of-life indicators between the Uygur population in Xinjiang and people in the West. What exactly did he find? How does life in Xinjiang compare to life in other parts of the world, including Western developed countries?