BEIJING , June 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For decades, David Ferguson , a British writer and Honorary Chief English Editor at the Beijing-based Foreign Languages Press, has traveled widely across China and covered many of the country's major events, including the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region remained one place he wished to explore in greater depth.Â
This April, Ferguson embarked on a research trip to Xinjiang for a book he plans to write about the region's development. Over two weeks, he visited Aksu Prefecture and the regional capital city of Urumqi, seeing everything from cotton fields, hospitals and power plants to factories and e-commerce centers. In an exclusive interview with Xinjiang Today, Ferguson spoke about the many dimensions of modernization he witnessed in Xinjiang and how his firsthand observations contrasted with many prevailing Western narratives about the region. Edited excerpts of his insights follow:Â
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