BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- A white paper released Monday by China's State Council Information Office has slammed terrorist and extremist forces for beating the drum for separatist activities in Xinjiang.

Separatism is the hotbed in which terrorism and extremism take root in Xinjiang, said the white paper, titled "The Fight Against Terrorism and Extremism and Human Rights Protection in Xinjiang."

For a long time, terrorist and extremist forces have been beating the drum for separatist activities by distorting, fabricating and falsifying the history of Xinjiang, exaggerating the cultural differences between ethnic groups, instigating isolation and hatred, and advocating religious extremism, it said.

The white paper said that since the founding of the People's Republic of China, people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, worked together to build a better Xinjiang; they have maintained social stability, achieved economic growth and improved lives for the people.

The "East Turkistan" forces, however, have not resigned themselves to defeat. With the support of international anti-China forces, the "East Turkistan" forces have resorted to all means, fair or foul, to organize, plan and carry out acts of separatism and sabotage.

Since the 1990s, especially after the September 11 attacks in the United States, the "East Turkistan" forces inside and outside China have stepped up their collaboration as terrorism and extremism spread around the globe, trying desperately to establish "East Turkistan" through "Jihad" (holy war), the white paper said.

The white paper also noted that religious extremism under the banner of Islam runs counter to Islamic doctrines. "It is not Islam," the white paper said.