Uyghur Genocide
The Uyghur Genocide is the ongoing series of human rights abuses against the Turkic Muslim minority by the People’s Republic of China in the Xinjiang region. Carried out by the Chinese Communist Party under the rule of General Secretary Xi Jinping, these state-mandated behaviors have resulted in the internment of more than one million Uyghur and other muslim minorities in what China has referred to as “re-education” camps [1]. In these re-education camps, ethnic minorities are subjected to what is being referred to by diplomatic scholars as “ethnic cleansing” where inmates are forced to renounce their Islamic beliefs and pledge their loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party [1]. Additional abuses include measures to prevent Uyghur women from giving birth, which have included sterilizations, abortions, and the forced separations of children from their families [2].
The use of surveillance technologies has also proved to be especially prominent in the suppression of ethnic minorities in China, with the Communist Party enlisting surveillance firms to write ethnic-tracking specs, installing chips in mobile phones, and scanning digital communications to look for and flag what is deemed as “suspicious” behavior. [3]
International Response to the Uyghur genocide has varied. While there has been a strong international condemnation against the Chinese Communist Party by Western countries, many of China’s allies and economic partners have remained silent or praised China’s “counterterrorism” efforts. [4]
Contents
Background
Xinjiang
Xinjiang, which lies on the Northwest end of mainland China, was sparsely populated with herders and farmers organized into small kingdoms and tribes until 60 BCE, when the Han dynasty established a military command in the region. [6] Han power declined in the 3rd century, and Uyghur leaders gained power in the region until Chinese Imperial power returned in the Tang period (618-907)[6], increasing Chinese influence in the region. As Tang power and Chinese influence diminished in the 9th and 10th centuries, Arab influence increased, allowing not only Islam, but also the Turkic language to spread. Xinjiang was once again incorporated into the Chinese empire after being conquered by Genghis Khan in the 13th century, and was officially created a province in 1884 by the Qing government [6]. Following the installation of the Communist party in 1949, Xinjiang was established as an autonomous region, and moderate policies were implemented towards local minorities.
As a result of policies implemented during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution causing food shortages, as well as a break in Sino-Soviet relations in the 1960s, a mass exodus of Kazakh people in Kazakhstan led to political instability and increased ethnic tensions in the area. Following the Cultural Revolution, there was increased economic investment in Xinjiang’s farms, resulting in Xinjiang producing 84% of China’s total cotton output in 2019 [7].
Uyghur Muslims
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Origins
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Use of Surveillance Technology
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Response
lorem ipsum- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Islamophobia, Chinese Style: Total Internment of Uyghur Muslims by the People's Republic of China. Islamophobia Studies Journal. Vol. 5, No. 2 (Fall 2020), pp. 175-198
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 BBC News. 2022. Uighurs: 'Credible case' China carrying out genocide. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55973215.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Guardian. 2022. China’s hi-tech war on its Muslim minority. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/11/china-hi-tech-war-on-muslim-minority-xinjiang-uighurs-surveillance-face-recognition.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Council on Foreign Relations. 2022. China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. [online] Available at: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang.
- ↑ Grauer, Y. and Grauer, Y., 2022. Millions of Leaked Police Files Detail Suffocating Surveillance of China’s Uyghur Minority. [online] The Intercept. Available at: https://theintercept.com/2021/01/29/china-uyghur-muslim-surveillance-police.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Encyclopedia Britannica. 2022. Xinjiang - History. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/place/Xinjiang/History.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/uighur-labor-will-be-tough-to-avoid-in-cotton-supply-chains/586217/
