Deep Read: Unterwegs in einer umstrittenen Region – Chinas großes Xinjiang-Theater

Ürümqi, Aksu. In this contentious region, eleven speakers have spoken already this morning without a single break. Some in the conference hall of the state guesthouse in Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital, scroll through their smartphones boredly. The Chinese official beside me sits in his chair. The autonomous region on China's far western edge is under international scrutiny for allegations of forced labor and human rights violations against Uighurs.

It is now the site and subject of a trip organized by Chinese officials, which I, as a Handelsblatt correspondent, am participating in. Rarely do we take state-organized journalist trips in China. The purpose of such trips, according to Katja Drinhausen of the research institute Merics, is not "to persuade on the spot through transparency and open access."

Instead, the intention is to demonstrate that representatives from many countries and sectors do not believe the allegations of human rights violations. I want to understand this strategy better. Barry Sautman, the next speaker, 77-year-old professor from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, enters the stage just as many cameras focus on their phones. Suddenly, the mood in the room changes.