Commentary During a March 7 press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was asked about accusations by Western nations that China is committing genocide in its far-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. After listing several examples of the West’s own history of oppressing ethnic minorities, Yi dismissed the accusations as “a rumor, fabricated with ulterior motives, and a lie through-and-through.” The best way for Westerners to debunk these “rumors,” he insisted, is to visit the region themselves. On June 2, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin echoed Yi’s invitation, saying that “the door to Xinjiang is always open. We welcome people from all walks of life in other countries to visit the region and get to know the true Xinjiang through first-hand experience.” Recently, there have been a number of stories purporting to be precisely that—ordinary Westerners coming to see “the real Xinjiang.” In December 2020, French author Maxime Vivas published …