Persecution of Uyghurs in China

Since 2017, the Chinese government has pursued a policy which has led to more than one million Muslims (the majority of them Uyghurs) being held in secretive detention camps without any legal process. Critics of the policy have described it as the sinicization of Xinjiang and called it an ethnocide or cultural genocide, and some activists, human rights experts, and government officials have called it a genocide.

In particular, critics have highlighted the concentration of Uyghurs in state-sponsored re-education camps, suppression of Uyghur religious practices, political indoctrination, severe ill-treatment, and testimonials of alleged human rights abuses including forced sterilization and contraception. Chinese government statistics show that from 2015 to 2018, birth rates in the mostly Uyghur regions of Hotan and Kashgar plunged by more than 60%. Chinese authorities acknowledged that birth rates dropped by almost a third in 2018 in Xinjiang, but denied reports of forced sterilization and genocide.

International reactions have been mixed with 54 United Nations (UN) member states supporting China's policies in Xinjiang, which decreased to 45 in October 2020, and 39 countries condemning China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang. In July and August 2020, human rights groups have called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate Chinese officials for allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide.

In December 2020, the ICC declined to take investigative action against China, on the basis that it did not have jurisdiction over China with respect to the majority of the alleged crimes. The ICC also ruled in a separate assessment that transfers of Uyghurs from Cambodia and Tajikistan, both of which ICC members, to China did not constitute the crime against humanity of deportation.

Definition

Labeling it an ethnocide or labeling it a cultural genocide

Since the release of the Xinjiang papers and the China Cables in November 2019, various journalists and researchers have called the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghurs an ethnocide or a cultural genocide. In November 2019, Adrian Zenz described the classified documents as confirming "that this is a form of cultural genocide". Azeem Ibrahim of Foreign Policy called the Chinese treatment of Uyghurs a "deliberate and calculated campaign of cultural genocide" in December 2019 after the release of the Xinjiang papers and China Cables. James Leibold, a professor at the Australian La Trobe University, has called the treatment of Uyghurs by the Chinese government a "cultural genocide" and stated that "in their own words, party officials are 'washing brains' and 'cleansing hearts' to 'cure' those bewitched by extremist thoughts."

Labeling it a crime against humanity or labeling it a genocide

In July 2020, Adrian Zenz said an interview with NPR that he had previously argued that the actions of the Chinese government are a cultural genocide, not a "literal genocide". However, recent developments concerning the suppression of birth rates meant that one of the five criteria from the Genocide Convention was met so "we do need to probably call it a genocide". In July 2020, two Uyghur activist groups filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court calling for it to investigate PRC officials for crimes against Uyghurs including allegations of genocide.

An August 2020 Quartz article reported that some scholars hesitate to label the human rights abuses in Xinjiang as a "full-blown genocide", preferring the term "cultural genocide", but that increasingly many experts were calling them "crimes against humanity" or "genocide". In September 2020, nearly two dozen activist groups, including the Uyghur Human Rights Project, Genocide Watch, and the European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, signed an open letter for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to investigate whether crimes against humanity or genocide were taking place in Xinjiang.

In October 2020, the U.S. Senate introduced a bipartisan resolution designating the human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang as genocide. Around the same time, the House of Commons of Canada issued a statement that its Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development was persuaded that the Chinese Communist Party's actions in Xinjiang constitute genocide as laid out in the Genocide Convention.

As of July 2020, Amnesty International has not taken a position on whether the Chinese government's treatment of Uyghurs constituted a genocide.

Background

See also: Islam in China, History of Islam in China, History of Xinjiang, Islamization and Turkification of Xinjiang, and East Turkestan independence movement

Language

The 1980s were a period of developing support for minority languages; the Chinese government was providing various writing platforms and creating multiple language materials to accommodate the minority population, which included Uyghurs. The Uyghur language has around 10 million speakers, and the language is shared with other minority groups in the region.

In 1984, some of the essential laws to date were put in place; the Nationality Law, which grants all citizens--regardless of linguistic background the right to take legal action with their language. And the law also supported the development of different minority cultural literature and historic preservation.

In the early years, national minority identification was seen as essential to national development despite the condescension these minorities face; negative perceptions towards minority languages led to negative stereotypes about the Uyghurs. Also, Standard Mandarin Chinese was required to establish national solidarity, at the expense of other varieties of Chinese and other languages.

Xinjiang conflict

Main article: Xinjiang conflict

Historically, various Chinese dynasties have exerted control over parts of modern-day Xinjiang. The region came under modern Chinese rule as a result of the westward expansion of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, which also saw the conquests of Tibet and Mongolia.

After the 1928 assassination of Yang Zengxin, the governor of the semi-autonomous Kumul Khanate in east Xinjiang under the Republic of China, Jin Shuren, succeeded Yang as the governor of the Khanate. On the death of the Kamul Khan Maqsud Shah in 1930, Jin entirely abolished the Khanate and took control of the region as a warlord. In 1933, the breakaway First East Turkestan Republic was established in the Kumul Rebellion. In 1934, the First Turkestan Republic was conquered by warlord Sheng Shicai with the aid of the Soviet Union before Sheng reconciled with the Republic of China in 1942. In 1944, the Ili Rebellion led to the establishment of the Second East Turkestan Republic which depended on the "tacit consent" of the Soviet Union for trade, arms, and its continued existence until it was absorbed into the People's Republic of China in 1949.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, the Chinese government-sponsored a mass migration of Han Chinese to the region and introduced several policies that were designed to suppress the cultural identity and religion of the Uyghurs. During this period, several Uyghur separatist organizations emerged with potential support from the Soviet Union, with the East Turkestan People's Party being the largest organization in 1968. During the 1970s, the Soviets supported the United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan (URFET) to fight the Chinese.

In 1997, a police roundup and the execution of 30 suspected separatists during Ramadan led to large demonstrations in February 1997 which resulted in the Ghulja incident, a People's Liberation Army (PLA) crackdown which resulted in at least nine deaths. The Ürümqi bus bombings later that month killed nine people and injured 68 and the responsibility for them was claimed by Uyghur exile groups. In March 1997, a bus bomb killed two people with responsibility claimed by Uyghur separatists and the Turkey-based Organisation for East Turkistan Freedom.

In July 2009, riots broke out in Xinjiang in response to a violent dispute between Uyghur and Han Chinese workers in a factory which resulted in over one hundred deaths. Following the riots, Uyghur terrorists killed dozens of Han Chinese in coordinated attacks from 2009 to 2016. These included the August 2009 syringe attacks, the 2011 bomb-and-knife attack in Hotan, the March 2014 knife attack in the Kunming railway station, the April 2014 bomb-and-knife attack in the Ürümqi railway station, and the May 2014 car-and-bomb attack in an Ürümqi street market. The attacks were conducted by Uyghur separatists, with some orchestrated by the UN-designated terrorist organization Turkistan Islamic Party (formerly the East Turkistan Islamic Movement). Abroad, Uyghur terrorists bombed the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan in 2016; in 2014, they killed 25 people in an attack on a Thai shrine popular with Chinese tourists.

During the peak of Syria's civil war (2011- 2017), thousands of Uyghurs from China went to Syria and joined ISIS and Al Qaeda. The Uyghur fighters wanted to learn combat skills and return to China. About 50,000 Uyghurs also moved to Turkey, mostly in towns close to the border with Syria.

Government policies

Xinjiang Police Jobs as they grow with Internment Camps

Number of re-education related government procurement bids in Xinjiang

Initial "Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism"

Main article: Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism

In April 2010, after the July 2009 Ürümqi riots, Zhang Chunxian replaced the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary Wang Lequan, who had been behind religious policies in Xinjiang for 14 years. In May 2014, China launched the "Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism" in Xinjiang in response to growing tensions between the Han Chinese and the Uyghur population of Xinjiang itself. In announcing the campaign, CCP general secretary Xi Jinping stated that "practice has proved that our party's ruling strategy in Xinjiang is correct and must be maintained in the long run" in May 2014.

Regulations since 2017

Further information: Xinjiang re-education camps

New bans and regulations were implemented on April 1, 2017. Abnormally long beards and wearing veils in public were both banned. Not watching state-run television or listening to radio broadcasts, refusing to abide by family planning policies, or refusing to allow one's children to attend state-run schools were all prohibited. Giving a child a name that would "exaggerate religious fervor," such as Muhammad, was made illegal. Along with this, many mosques were demolished or destroyed.

Re-education efforts began in 2014 and were expanded in 2017. At this time, detainment camps were built for the housing of students of the re-education programs, most of whom are Uyghurs. The Chinese government did not acknowledge their existence until 2018 and called them "vocational education and training centers." This name was changed to "vocational training centers" in 2019. The camps tripled in size from 2018 to 2019 despite the Chinese government claiming that most of the detainees had been released.

Counter-terrorism justification

China has used the global "war on terror" of the 2000s to frame separatist and ethnic unrest as acts of Islamist terrorism to legitimize its counter-insurgency policies in Xinjiang.

In August 2018, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination decried the "broad definition of terrorism and vague references to extremism" used by Chinese legislation, noting that there were numerous reports of detention of large numbers of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities on the "pretext of countering terrorism".

In 2019, the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal, Sam Brownback, and Nathan Sales said that the Chinese government consistently misuses "counterterrorism" as a pretext for cultural suppression and human rights abuses.

Cultural effects

Mosques

Mosque in Tuyoq, Xinjiang

There are about 24,400 mosques in Xinjiang, an average of one mosque for every 530 Muslims.

In 2005, Human Rights Watch reported that "information scattered in official sources suggests that retaliation" against mosques not sponsored by the Chinese State was prevalent and that the Xinjiang Party Secretary expressed that Uyghurs "should not have to build new places for religious activities." The Chinese government prohibited minors from participating in religious activities in Xinjiang in a manner that, according to Human Rights Watch, "has no basis in Chinese law."

According to an analysis from The Guardian, over one-third of mosques and religious sites in China suffered “significant structural damage” between 2016 and 2018, with nearly one-sixth of all mosques and shrines completely razed. This includes the tomb of Imam Asim, a mud tomb in the Taklamakan desert, and the Ordam shrine at the mazar of Ali Arslan Khan. According to The Guardian, Uyghur Muslims believe that repeated pilgrimages to these tombs would fulfill a Muslim's obligation to complete the Hajj.

Allegations about Id Kah Mosque

See also: Id Kah Mosque

Id Kah Mosque is the largest mosque in Xinjiang and the largest in China.

Radio Free Asia reported that in 2018, a plaque containing Quranic scriptures, that had long hung outside the front entrance of the mosque, had been removed by the authorities to "eliminate Uyghur faith, literary works, and language".

However, in July 2020, the Chinese embassy in the US tweeted a video interview with the imam showing the plaque hanging inside the mosque, claiming that the mosque had been renovated. The imam stated that the plaque had been moved inside to protect it from exposure to the rain and sun.

Education

In 2011, schools in Xinjiang transitioned to "bilingual education." The majority of the instruction occurs in Mandarin Chinese, with only a few hours a week devoted to Uyghur literature. Despite this emphasis on "bilingual education," few Han children are taught to speak Uyghur.

Uyghur students are also increasingly being sent to residential schools far from their home communities where they can speak Uyghur.

According to a 2020 report from Radio Free Asia, monolingual Mandarin Chinese education has been introduced in an influential high school in Kashgar which formerly provided bilingual education.

According to a World article in July 2020, Sayragul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh teacher who later fled China, was forced to teach at a re-education camp. She described the camp as "cramped and unhygienic", with her detainee students given only basic sustenance. Sauytbay added that authorities forced the detainees to learn Chinese, sit through indoctrination classes, and make public confessions. Furthermore, she mentioned that torture and rape were common and that authorities forced detainees to take a particular medicine that left some individuals sterile or cognitively impaired.

Detained academics and religious figures

The Uyghur Human Rights Project has identified at least 386 Uyghur intellectuals. They were detained and have disappeared since early 2017 as victims of the massive campaign of ethnoreligious repression carried out by the Chinese government in the Uyghur homeland.

Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison in 2014. Amnesty International called his sentence unjustified and deplorable. Rahile Dawut, a prominent Uyghur anthropologist who studied and preserved Islamic shrines, traditional songs, and folklore, has also been imprisoned.

According to Radio Free Asia, the Chinese government jailed Uyghur Imam Abduheber Ahmet after he took his son to a religious school not sanctioned by the Chinese state. Ahmet had previously been lauded by China as a "five-star" imam but was sentenced in 2018 to over five years in prison for his action.

Graveyards

In September 2019, Agence France-Presse (AFP) visited 13 destroyed cemeteries across four cities and witnessed exposed bones remaining in 4 of them. Through an examination of satellite images, the press agency determined that the grave destruction campaign had been active for more than a decade. According to a previous AFP report, three cemeteries in Xayar County were among dozens of Uyghur cemeteries destroyed in Xinjiang between 2017 and 2019. The unearthed human bones from the cemeteries in Xayar County were discarded. In January 2020, a CNN report based on an analysis of Google Maps satellite imagery said that Chinese authorities have destroyed more than 100 graveyards in Xinjiang, primarily Uyghur ones. CNN has linked the destruction of the cemeteries to the government's campaign to control the Uyghurs and Muslims more broadly. The Chinese government terms the cemetery and tomb destruction as "relocations" and claim that the dead are re-interred in new standardized cemeteries.

This is all part of China's campaign to effectively eradicate any evidence of who we are, to effectively make us like the Han Chinese. ... That's why they're destroying all of these historical sites, these cemeteries, to disconnect us from our history, from our fathers and our ancestors.

— Salih Hudayar, whose great-grandparents' graveyard was demolished

Among the destroyed cemeteries is Sultanim Cemetery (37°07′02″N 79°56′04″E), the central Uyghur historical graveyard with generations of burials, and the most sacred shrine in Hotan city, which was demolished and converted into a parking lot between 2018 and 2019. CGTN, a Chinese state-owned international channel affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, claimed that the graves were relocated.

Marriage incentives

Uyghur Woman in Xinjiang

According to gender studies expert Leta Hong Fincher, the Chinese government has offered Uyghur couples incentives to have fewer children, and for women to marry outside of their race. According to the outreach coordinator for the U.S.-based Uyghur Human Rights Project, Zubayra Shamseden, the Chinese government "wants to erase Uighur culture and identity by remaking its women."

Marriages between Uyghurs and Han Chinese persons are encouraged with subsidies by the government. In August 2014, local authorities in Cherchen County (Qiemo County) announced, “Incentive Measures Encouraging Uighur-Chinese Intermarriage,” including a 10,000 CNY (US$1,450) cash reward per annum for the first five years to such intermarried couples as well as preferential treatment in employment and housing plus free education for the couples, their parents and offspring. County CCP Secretary Zhu Xin remarked:

Our advocacy of intermarriage is promoting positive energy ... Only by promoting the establishment of a social structure, and community environment in which all ethnic groups are embedded in each other ... can we boost the great unity, ethnic fusion, and development of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and finally realize our China dream of the great rejuvenation of our Chinese nation

In October 2017, the marriage of a Han Chinese man from Henan Province to an Uyghur woman from Lop County was celebrated on the county's social media page:

They will let ethnic unity forever bloom in their hearts,
Let ethnic unity become one’s own flesh and blood.

Darren Byler, an anthropologist and China expert at the University of Washington, said that a social media campaign in 2020 to marry off 100 Uyghur women to Han Chinese men indicated that, "a certain racialized power dynamic is a part of this process," commenting, “It does seem as though this is an effort to produce greater assimilation and diminish ethnic difference by pulling Uighurs into Han-dominated relationships.”

In March 2017, Salamet Memetimin, an ethnic Uyghur and the Communist Party Secretary for Chaka township's Bekchan village in Qira County, Hotan Prefecture, was relieved of her duties for taking her nikah marriage vows at her home. In interviews with Radio Free Asia in 2020, residents and officials of Shufu County (Kona Sheher), Kashgar Prefecture (Kashi) stated that it was no longer possible to perform traditional Uyghur nikah marriage rites in the county.

Clothing

Chinese authorities discourage the wearing of headscarves, veils, and other Islamic dress in the region. On May 20, 2014, a protest broke out in Alakaga (Alaqagha, Alahage), Kuqa (Kuchar, Kuche), Aksu Prefecture when 25 women and schoolgirls were detained for wearing headscarves. According to a local official, two died and five were injured when special armed police fired into the protesters. Subsequently, a Washington Post team was detained in Alakaga and ultimately deported from the region.

Children's names

According to Radio Free Asia, in 2015, a list of banned names for children called "Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities", was promulgated in Hotan, banning potential names including Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina. Use of the list was later extended throughout Xinjiang.

Allegations of human rights abuses

Further information: Human rights in China § Uyghur Muslims

Inside re-education camps

Main article: Xinjiang re-education camps

Torture

Human Rights Watch has alleged "'rampant abuses,' including torture and unfair trials" of the Uyghurs.

Mihrigul Tursun, a young Uyghur mother, said that she was "tortured and subjected to other brutal conditions... " She was drugged, interrogated for days without sleep, and strapped in a chair and jolted with electricity. It was her third time being sent to a camp since 2015. Tursun told reporters that she remembers interrogators telling her: "Being a Uighur is a crime." Another past detainee, Kayrat Samarkand, said that "'They made me wear what they called 'iron clothes,' a suit made of metal that weighed over 50 pounds... It forced my arms and legs into an outstretched position. I couldn't move at all, and my back was in terrible pain...They made people wear this thing to break their spirits. After 12 hours, I became so soft, quiet and lawful.'"

Compulsory sterilizations and contraception

Zumrat Dwut, an Uyghur woman, claimed that she was forcibly sterilized during her time in a camp before her husband was able to get her out through requests to Pakistani diplomats. While Dwut does not specify how she was sterilized, other women recount having forcefully received contraceptive implants.

The Heritage Foundation reported that officials forced Uyghur women to take unknown drugs. And to drink some kind of white liquid that caused them to lose consciousness, and sometimes caused them to stop menstruating.

In 2018, a policy of voluntary mass sterilization of the farming population in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture was promoted. In 2019, birth rates in Kizilsu Prefecture declined. The prefecture received 1.33 million RMB for birth prevention measures and free surgeries. In 2020, the population growth rate of Kizilsu Prefecture was planned to be significantly reduced.

Brainwashing

Kayrat Samarkand described his camp routine in an article for NPR: "In addition to living in cramped quarters, he says inmates had to sing songs praising Chinese leader Xi Jinping before being allowed to eat. He says detainees were forced to memorize a list of what he calls '126 lies' about religion: 'Religion is opium, religion is bad, you must believe in no religion, you must believe in the Communist Party,' he remembers. 'Only [the] Communist Party could lead you to the bright future.'"

Documents which were leaked to The New York Times by an anonymous Chinese official advised that "Should students ask whether their missing parents had committed a crime, they are to be told no, it is just that their thinking has been infected by unhealthy thoughts. Freedom is only possible when this 'virus' in their thinking is eradicated and they are in good health."

The Heritage Foundation reported that "children whose parents are detained in the camps are often sent to state-run orphanages and brainwashed to forget their ethnic roots. Even if their parents are not detained, Uyghur children need to move to inner China and immerse themselves into the Han culture under the Chinese government's 'Xinjiang classrooms' policy."

Labor

According to Quartz, the Xinjiang region is described as a "'cotton gulag' where prison labor is present in all steps of the cotton supply chain..."

Tahir Hamut, an Uyghur Muslim, worked in a labor camp during elementary school when he was a child, and he later worked in a re-education camp as an adult, performing such tasks as picking cotton, shoveling gravel, and making bricks. "Everyone is forced to do all types of hard labor or face punishment," he said. "Anyone unable to complete their duties will be beaten."

Outside re-education camps

IUDs and birth control

According to researcher Adrian Zenz, 80% of all new IUD placements in China in 2018 were performed in Xinjiang, despite the region only constituting 1.8% of China's population.; China's National Health Commission has stated that the figure is 8.7%. Across the Xinjiang region, in 2019, birth rates have fallen 24%, compared to a 4.2% decline in entire China. The Xinjiang government has confirmed this in a fax to CNN, in which it nevertheless strongly denied allegations of genocide, pointing to an increase in the Uyghur population between 2010 and 2017. According to Zenz, natural population growth rates in Xinjiang fell by 84% in the two largest Uyghur prefectures between 2015 and 2018. The local Xinjiang authority has stated that the decline is due to "the comprehensive implementation of the family planning policy." The Chinese authorities do not dispute the increase in sterilizations in the region.

Forced cohabitation and abortion

In 2018, Chinese public servants began mandatory home stays with Uyghur families for assimilation aid.

A 37-year-old pregnant woman from the Xinjiang region said that she attempted to give up her Chinese citizenship to live in Kazakhstan but was told by the Chinese government that she needed to come back to China to complete the process. She received an abortion that she alleged was required to prevent her brother from being detained.

A book by Guo Rongxing on the unrest in Xinjiang states that the 1990 Baren Township riot protests were the result of 250 forced abortions imposed upon local Uyghur women by the Chinese government.

Organ harvesting

Main article: Organ transplantation in China § Allegations of organ harvesting in Xinjiang

Ethan Gutmann, a fellow at the conservative think-tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies and China watcher, concluded that organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience became prevalent when members of the Uyghur ethnic group were targeted in security crackdowns and "strike hard campaigns" during the 1990s. According to Gutmann, organ harvesting from Uyghur prisoners dropped off by 1999 with members of the Falun Gong religious group overtaking the Uyghurs as a source or organs.

In the 2010s, concerns about organ harvesting from Uyghurs resurfaced. According to a unanimous determination by the China Tribunal, China has persecuted and medically tested Uyghurs. Its report expressed concerns that Uyghurs were vulnerable to being subject to organ harvesting but did not yet have evidence of its occurrence.

Use of biometric and surveillance technology

Chinese authorities have been utilizing biometric technology to track individuals in the Uyghur community. According to Yahir Imin, a 38-year-old Uyghur, Chinese authorities in Xinjiang drew blood, scanned his face, recorded his fingerprints, and documented his voice. As stated in the article written by Sui-Lee Wee, a key piece in China's strategy is to collect genetic material from millions of people in the Xinjiang region. The genetic material contributes to an extensive database that can track Uyghur individuals who defy the campaign. China has been exploring the use of facial recognition technology to sort people by ethnicity, and how to use DNA to tell if an individual is an Uyghur. According to an assistant professor at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Mark Munsterhjelm, The PRC is creating "technologies used for hunting people."

In 2017, security-related construction tripled in Xinjiang. According to Charles Rollet, “the projects [in China] include not only security cameras but also video analytics hubs, intelligent monitoring systems, big data centers, police checkpoints, and even drones," with drone manufacturer DJI having provided surveillance drones to local police since 2017 as well. The Ministry of Public Security has invested billions of dollars into two main government plans: the Skynet project (天网工程) and the Sharp Eyes project (雪亮工程). These two projects combined are reaching to oversee China's population by the year 2020 through video camera facial recognition. According to Morgan Stanley, by 2020, there will be installments of 400 million security cameras. Various Chinese start-ups have been building algorithms to allow the Chinese government to track the Muslim minority group. These start-ups include SenseTime, CloudWalk, Yitu, Megvii, and Hikvision.

In July 2020, the United States Department of Commerce sanctioned 11 Chinese firms, two of which were subsidiaries of BGI Group, for violating the human rights of Uyghur Muslims and minorities belonging to other ethnicities in China, by exploiting their genetic sequence. The BGI Group along with an Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing firm Group 42 – accused of espionage in 2019 – were named by the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department in an October 2020 warning issued to Nevada against the use of the 200,000 Covid-19 test kits donated by UAE under the partnership of G42 and the BGI Group. The US intelligence agencies have warned of foreign powers exploiting patient’s medical samples to dig into their medical history, genetic traits, illnesses, etc.

Biometric data

Officials in Tumxuk have gathered hundreds of blood samples from Uyghur individuals, contributing to the campaign in mass-collecting DNA. Tumxuk was named a "major battlefield for Xinjiang's security work" by the state news media. In January 2018, a forensic DNA lab overseen by the Institute of Forensic Science of China was built in Tumxuk. Documents from within the lab showed that the lab was supported by software created by Thermo Fisher Scientific, a Massachusetts company. This software was used in correspondence to create genetic sequencers, helpful in analyzing DNA. In response, Thermo Fisher declared in February that it would discontinue selling to the Xinjiang region as a result of "fact-specific assessments."

GPS tracking on cars

Security officials have ordered residents in China's Northwest region to install GPS tracking devices in their vehicles so authorities can track their movements. This measure affects residents in the Xinjiang region and authorities have claimed that it "is necessary to counteract the activities of Islamist extremists and separatists". An announcement from officials in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture proclaimed that "there is a severe threat from international terrorism, and cars have been used as a key means of transport for terrorists as well as constantly serving as weapons. It is, therefore, necessary to monitor and track all vehicles in the prefecture."

Installation of China-made Beidou satellite navigation systems in all private, secondhand, and government vehicles was made necessary from 20 February 2020.

International responses

Reactions at the United Nations

In July 2019, 22 countries issued a joint letter to the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), condemning China's mass detention of Uyghurs and other minorities, calling upon China to "refrain from the arbitrary detention and restrictions on freedom of movement of Uyghurs, and other Muslim and minority communities in Xinjiang".

In the same session, 50 countries issued a joint letter supporting China's Xinjiang policies, criticizing the practice of "politicizing human rights issues". The letter stated, "China has invited a number of diplomats, international organizations officials and journalist to Xinjiang" and that "what they saw and heard in Xinjiang completely contradicted what was reported in the media."

In October 2019, 23 countries issued a joint statement to the UN urging China to "uphold its national and international obligations and commitments to respect human rights".

In response, 54 countries (including China itself) issued a joint statement supporting China's Xinjiang policies. The statement "spoke positively of the results of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang and noted that these measures have effectively safeguarded the basic human rights of people of all ethnic groups."

In February 2020, the UN demanded unobstructed access in advance of a proposed fact-finding visit to the region.

In October 2020, more countries at the UN joined the condemnation of China over human rights abuses in Xinjiang with German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen speaking on behalf of the group. The total number of countries that condemned China increased to 39, while the total number of countries that defended China decreased to 45. Notably, 16 countries that defended China in 2019 did not do so in 2020.

Reactions by country/region

Africa

Several African countries, including Algeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Nigeria, and Somalia, signed a July 2019 letter that publicly praised China's human rights record and dismissed reported abuses in Xinjiang.

Canada

In July 2020, The Globe and Mail reported that human rights activists, including retired politician Irwin Cotler, were encouraging the Parliament of Canada to recognize the Chinese actions against Uyghurs as genocide and impose sanctions on the officials responsible.

On 21 October 2020, the Subcommittee on International Human Rights (SDIR) of the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development condemned the persecution of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang by the Government of China and concluded that the Chinese Communist Party’s actions amount to the genocide of the Uyghurs per the Genocide Convention.

East Turkistan Government-in-Exile

In January 2020, President Ghulam Osman Yaghma of the East Turkistan Government-in-Exile wrote that "the world is silently witnessing another Holocaust like genocide in East Turkistan....as the President of East Turkistan Government-in-Exile, on behalf of East Turkistan and its people, we again call on the international community including world governments to acknowledge and recognize China's brutal Holocaust like the oppression of East Turkistan's people as a genocide."

Europe

In addition to signing a joint statement regarding ethical violations affecting the Uyghur community in Xinjiang, countries such as Germany and Norway have taken further steps to express their opinions on this issue. Germany has specifically called on China to provide UN human rights access to the camps. Also, Norway has formed an anti-internment camp awareness group.

United Kingdom

On 10 October 2020, Britain’s shadow foreign secretary, Lisa Nandy suggested that Britain must oppose giving China a seat on the UN’s human rights body in protest against its abuse of Uyghur Muslims. She added that the UN must be allowed to conduct an inquiry into possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

India

In a 2020 article in The Kashmir Magazine, Kashmiri leader Hashim Qureshi pointed out that Uyghurs are forcibly put in concentration camps in Xinjiang, adding, “Muslim officials are not allowed to grow beards or offer prayers. Mosques cannot raise tall minarets."

Middle East

Many countries in the Middle East signed a UN document defending China's human rights record. A spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized the camps, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan later defended China during his visit there. President Erdogan has attempted to turn east in search of allies while seeking membership in the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization and is unlikely to cause disputes to interfere.Iraq and Iran have also remained silent and have signed the document while Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey have been accused of deporting Uyghurs to China. The United Arab Emirates has formally defended China's human rights records. These countries have appreciated China's respect for the principle of non-interference in other countries' affairs and have therefore placed significance on their economic and political relations. Qatar supported China's policies in Xinjiang until August 21, 2019; Qatar was the first Middle Eastern country to withdraw its defense of the Xinjiang Camps.

New Zealand

In 2018, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern raised the issue of Xinjiang while visiting Guangdong Party Secretary Leader Li Xi. Ardern also raised such concerns during China's periodic review at the UN in November 2018, to immediate pushback from China.

Ardern discussed Xinjiang privately with Xi Jinping privately during a 2019 visit to Beijing after the Christchurch mosque shootings. The New York Times accused New Zealand for tiptoeing around the issue for economic reasons as the country exports many products to China, including milk, meat, and wine.

Pakistan

Pakistan has signed a UN document supporting China's action in Xinjiang.

Russia

Russia has expressed support for China's treatment of Uyghurs on multiple occasions. It signed both statements at the UN (in July and October 2019) that supported China's Xinjiang policies.

Southeast Asia

Cambodia, Myanmar, and The Philippines signed formal support of China's policies. Thailand, Malaysia, and Cambodia have all deported Uyghur people at China's request.

In December 2009, the Uyghur American Association expressed concern at the return of 20 Uyghur refugees from Cambodia to China.

United States

The United States Congress passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in reaction to the re-education camps. A senior US diplomat called upon other countries to join the United States denunciations against the Chinese government's policies in Xinjiang. The Uyghur American Association has claimed that Beijing's military approach to terrorism in Xinjiang is state terrorism. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has issued statements about the conditions in Xinjiang writing in part:

The Chinese government’s campaign against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang is multi-faceted and systematic. It is characterized by mass detention, forced labor, and discriminatory laws, and supported through high-tech manners of surveillance.

US Senators Menendez and Cornyn lead a bipartisan group that is pushing to appoint the CCP's crimeful actions occurring in Xinjiang through a way of a Senate resolution. This would make the United States Senate the first government to "officially recognize the situation as a genocide." Senators Cornyn, Merkley, Cardin, and Rubio signed a letter to request Mike Pompeo-the Secretary of State- issuing a genocide determination. National Review reports that "U.S. government genocide determinations are an incredibly tricky thing. They require solid evidence to meet the criteria set out under the 1948 Genocide Convention." When determinations are issued there isn't much change or an effect that they will bring in the short run. Although, "there's a strong, well-documented case for a determination in this case."

Xinjiang boycott advert on NYU's campus in New York, NY
"Boycott Xinjiang Genocide Products!
抵制新疆种族灭绝产品！
Also don't attack our Chinese neighbors.
Just say no to xenophobia and racism!"

Official visits to the camps

China has invited more than 1,000 diplomats, officials of international organizations, journalists, and religious personages to visit Xinjiang. Many diplomats, officials, and journalists from various countries have already visited the region.

UN counter-terrorism chief Vladimir Voronkov visited Xinjiang in 2019 and found nothing incriminating at the camps. The visit prompted anger from the U.S. State Department.

In July 2019, a joint letter signed by 50 nations at the United Nations Human Rights Council talked about official visits to China's Xinjiang region:

"China has invited a number of diplomats, international organizations officials and journalist to Xinjiang to witness the progress of the human rights cause and the outcomes of counter-terrorism and deradicalization there. What they saw and heard in Xinjiang completely contradicted what was reported in the media."

The U.S. has called these visits "highly choreographed" and characterized them as having "propagated false narratives."

2022 Winter Olympics Boycott

In the aftermath of the 2019 leak of the Xinjiang papers which made public Chinese policies towards the Uyghurs, calls were made for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics. In a July 30, 2020 letter, the World Uyghur Congress urged the International Olympic Committee to reconsider the decision to hold the Olympics in Beijing.

See also

• Dahua Technology

External links

• Xinjiang Documentation Project at the University of British Columbia
• Human Rights in China Sokrat Saydahmat, Member of the Board of Directors of the Uyghur American Association, 2002 (starts at 12:40)
• Opinion article by Chams Eddine Zaougui
• Forced sterilisations and life in China's Uighur Muslim internment camps, interview with Qelbinur Sidik (The Guardian, September 2020)
• "PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE XINJIANG UIGHUR AUTONOMOUS REGION" (PDF). Amnesty International. 21 April 1999. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2020.