40 arrested for refusing to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival

(Hotan, Xinjiang—June 24, 2018) 40 Uyghur people in China’s northwestern Xinjiang were sent to “reformation camps” for refusing to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, which took place on June 18. According to World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilxat Raxit, local authorities forced Uyghur people join with the Han people, China’s ethnic majority, in celebrating the Dragon…

Details

At the heart of the Silk Road

  Xinjiang has changed over the decades, emphasising more on a “nationalistic and secular” culture rather than ethnic cultures. At the local library and cultural centre in Yangi County, women practise for a national function dressed in military uniform. Xinjiang province has the most to offer China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. But with ethnic…

Details

While Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy sparks controversy in the US, China is detaining hundreds of thousands of legal citizens for doing nothing wrong

The Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy, which detains parents and led to the separation of 2,000 children, has been controversial and lead to some changes. But in China, police have been interning hundreds of thousands of adults for offenses like growing a beard or legally travelling overseas, or sometimes no offence at all. There are…

Details

Uyghur Friendship Group and EPP Convene European Parliament Conference on Human Rights Situation of Uyghurs

UNPO A People Under Threat: Hundreds of Thousands of Uyghurs Arbitrarily Detained in China 26 June 2018 | 12:30 – 14:00 | Brussels, European Parliament, Room 2Q2 — REGISTER HERE — On 26 June 2018, from 12:30 to 14:30, the Uyghur Friendship Group in collaboration with the European People’s Party (EPP) will convene its very first meeting since its constitution. Entitled “A…

Details

Is China building ‘political re-education’ camps for Muslim minorities?

In China’s Muslim-majority Xinjiang region, there have been reports of “re-education” camps where over 200,000 “suspects” are being held. DW spoke with researcher Adrian Lenz about the veracity of the reports. DW: Where is information about the re-education camps in Xinjiang coming from? Adrian Zenz: The most important sources are government reports that are often…

Details

4 ways the U.S. can raise human rights issues with China

Editor’s Note: China is advancing an illiberal alternative to the universal values that the United States and its partners have championed for decades, writes Ryan Hass. On the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen Incident, it’s worth remembering China’s expanding efforts to muzzle criticism of its human rights record. This piece originally appeared on The Hill. Beijing’s recent intimidation…

Details

Reeducation Returns to China

Will the Repression in Xinjiang Influence Beijing’s Social Credit System? In recent months, troubling details have emerged about a sprawling network of secretive political reeducation camps in China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang. Both official and leaked evidence indicates that up to one million Muslims, chiefly from the Uighur minority, have been interned without legal proceedings.…

Details

John Oliver HBO’s @LastWeekTonight – Raises Concentration Camps unlawfully holding upwards of one million Uyghurs

Political indoctrination camps unlawfully holding upwards of one million Uyghurs was raised last night during @HBO’s @LastWeekTonight w/ John Oliver. John Oliver touches on the XJ situation and makes reference to recent Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and AP News pieces, including the video testimony by Tahir Hamut. “…making ‘Uncle Xi’ less like your fun…

Details

China is using terrorist threats to culturally cleanse its west

China’s concerns with terrorism are almost entirely focused on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Xinjiang’s geopolitical position at the eastern edge of the Islamic and Turkic-speaking world and the ethno-cultural distinctiveness of its largely Turkic-Muslim ethnic groups have constituted a challenge to the centralising imperatives of successive Chinese governments. Domestically, this has resulted in the extreme securitisation…

Details

Comparing the Brainwashing of Uighurs With the Party’s Anti-Falun Gong Campaign

On a blank sheet of paper free from any mark, the freshest and most beautiful characters can be written; the freshest and most beautiful pictures can be painted.   — Mao Zedong Extend special invitations to the Autonomous Region Women’s League Propaganda Troupe to visit… important villagers and education-transformation bases to hold ‘thanking the Party, listening…

Details

Detention Camp Construction is Booming in Xinjiang

Satellite imageries suggest China is expanding detention camps in Xinjiang at an unprecedented pace. The time of detention camp booming coincides with the escalation of China’s war against “terrorism, separatism, extremism”, which is reported to be targeting Uyghur and Kazakh minorities. It’s unclear whether these detention camps serve as “re-education camps”. Most detention camps in…

Details