Urumqi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - March 2, 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Press conference in progress
2. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zoram Talip, Hami resident (starting with shot 1):
"My husband and I have been living a normal life in Hami. And last year, (my daughter) Zulhumar's parents-in-law came from Hebei to visit us there. Together we enjoyed local delicacies, toured attractions, and danced Uygur Meshrep. We really had a good time together."
3. Reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zoram Talip, Hami resident:
"My daughter, you are the dearest person to mom and dad. You were born in a good time of development in China. You were sent to college to fashion your talents and serve the country."

FILE: Washington D.C., USA - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of Capitol Hill; traffic

Urumchi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - March 2, 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Elijan Anayit, spokesperson, Information Office of People's Government of Xinjiang (starting with shot 5):
"The CECC report distorts the truth and totally disregards the facts. It is entirely baseless and smears China's human rights realities. The Xinjiang government and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are adamantly opposed to its accusations!"

FILE: Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - June 10, 2016
7. Various of people entering Id Kah, one of largest mosque's in China
8. Various of people inside mosque

Urumchi City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - March 2, 2020 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
9. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Elijan Anayit, spokesperson, Information Office of People's Government of Xinjiang (starting with shot 8):
"I hope the U.S. will reflect more on its own domestic human rights issues. It should abandon double standards, and stop fabricating lies and interfering in China's internal affairs with the excuse of so-called 'human rights issue'. The development and progress of Xinjiang's human rights undertakings is obvious to all around the world, and cannot be written off by any rumor."
10. Press conference in progress

An ethnic Uygur woman living in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Monday denied statements that her own daughter allegedly told American media the mother was detained and was living in a camp in Xinjiang.

The major U.S. newspaper New York Times allegedly claimed that the woman, Zoram Talip, was once kept in a so-called "re-education camp" in the town of Hami, Xinjiang, following an interview with her daughter in Sweden.

Denying the allegation, Talip, a resident of Hami, said she's been living freely there.

"My husband and I have been living a normal life in Hami. And last year, (my daughter) Zulhumar's parents-in-law came from Hebei to visit us there. Together we enjoyed local delicacies, toured attractions, and danced Uygur Meshrep. We really had a good time together," Talip at a press conference in Urumqi, the regional capital city of Xinjiang.

She also asked her daughter to come back to them and not be blinded by rumors.

"My daughter, you are the dearest person to mom and dad. You were born in a good time of development in China. You were sent to college to fashion your talents and serve the country," said Talip.

Quoting a Uygur proverb as saying that "A traveler on a well signposted road never goes astray, a wise mind never eats its words", the mother urged her daughter not to be blinded by rumors and not to get manipulated by people of sinister motives.

The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released a report in January on China's human rights situation.

Also speaking at the press conference, local officials in Xinjiang denied the allegation that people's rights, including those of religious freedom, are restricted in Xinjiang.

"The CECC report distorts the truth and totally disregards the facts. It is entirely baseless and smears China's human rights realities. The Xinjiang government and people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are adamantly opposed to its accusations!" said Elijan Anayit, spokesperson of the Information Office of the People's Government of Xinjiang

Anayit said the freedom of religious belief is by law the independent choice of a citizen.

He also said Xinjiang now has 24,000 mosques, one for about every 500 Muslims, meeting the local people's needs.

"I hope the U.S. will reflect more on its own domestic human rights issues. It should abandon double standards, and stop fabricating lies and interfering in China's internal affairs with the excuse of so-called 'human rights issue'. The development and progress of Xinjiang's human rights undertakings is obvious to all around the world, and cannot be written off by any rumor," said Anayit.

The Monday briefing was the fifth by Xinjiang's local government to dispel rumors about the region. Officials said they hope a true picture of Xinjiang can result from these efforts.