96th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Human Rights Watch would like to express its appreciation to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the “Committee”) for this opportunity to provide it with information on the compliance of China with the International Convention on the Elimination of All…
A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project entitled “Extracting Cultural Resources: the Exploitation and Criminalization of Uyghur Cultural Heritage” examines the history and current state of government control of Uyghur cultural expression and the place of China’s cultural policies in the ongoing assimilative campaign in East Turkestan. The room for Uyghurs to maintain and…
Click to View Paper – Thoroughly_Reforming_them_Toward_a_Healthy Heart Attitude By Adrian Zenz Police officers standing outside a facility in Xinjiang believed to house a re-education camp (Source: AP) This article is condensed from a longer paper, available for download here. Since summer of 2017, troubling reports in Western media outlets about large-scale detentions of ethnic Muslim minorities (including…
Click to View – Religion White Paper On April 3rd, the Chinese State Council Information Office, a propaganda organ aimed at overseas audiences, released a White Paper entitled “China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief.” This comes as the authorities ramp up an official campaign to “Sinicize”（中国化） religion which is affecting believers…
China’s Police State in Xinjiang May 4 Event The People’s Republic of China has built the world’s most advanced police state in Xinjiang, the “autonomous region” in northwestern PRCwhose indigenous Uighur peoples have long bristled under repressive and discriminatory Communist rule. Cutting-edge surveillance, population control technologies, and large-scale Chinese force deployments have made Xinjiang the most heavily…
bingtuan The Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) announces the publication of a new report entitled ‘The Bingtuan: China’s Paramilitary Colonizing Force in East Turkestan.’ The bingtuan, also known as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), is a paramilitary organization in East Turkestan that answers directly to the central Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government in…
By David Brophy Soviet archives reveal a turning point in the Chinese Communist Party’s relationship with Uyghur and Kazakh elites in Xinjiang Beginning in early 1957, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) embarked on a campaign to “rectify its style of work” (zhengdun zuofeng 整顿作风, or simply zhengfeng 整风), reviving methods of self-criticism and purge that had been pioneered in…
Since its occupation by China after 1949, there has been discomfort in the East Turkistan (Xinjiang) Uyghur Autonomous Region (historically known as East Turkestan) with Chinese rule and meddling in the region’s affairs by the central government located 1,600 kilometers to the east. Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s hardline policies have further escalated tensions throughout…
Kilic Kanat Assistant Professor, Penn State University, Erie A series of violent incidents in China involving Uyghurs has focused increasing attention on the Turkic Muslim minority group and on the religious and political situation in their homeland, China’s vast northwestern province known as the Xinjiang (East Turkistan) Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR (East Turkistan) or East…
A new report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project details the Chinese government’s severe restrictions placed on Uyghur Internet users. Trapped in a Virtual Cage: Chinese State Repression of Uyghurs Online documents how Chinese authorities have exerted effective control over how Uyghurs seek, receive and impart information online in East Turkestan by employing technical and legislative…
