China’s draconian policies against the 11 million predominantly Muslim Uyghurs who live in the restive, far western province of Xinjiang were reaffirmed by President Xi Jinping during his second visit to the area in little over a year.
Maintaining “hard-won social stability” will remain a key priority, and that stability must be leveraged to “guarantee development,” Xi said in a speech on Saturday in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Uyghur Region, according to official media.
Xi has stated the need to “combine the development of the anti-terrorism and anti-separatism struggle with the push for normalizing social stability work and rule of law.” As part of his instructions, he urged government authorities to “promote the Sinicization of Islam” and “effectively control various illegal religious activities.”
Since 2017, China under Xi has cracked down severely on the Uyghurs, interning roughly 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in concentration camps in response to random terrorist strikes that the Uyghurs attribute to years of government repression. Beijing has also aimed to obliterate the Uyghur language and culture by destroying religious and cultural landmarks.
Abuse performed by China, such as arbitrary detentions, torture, forced sterilizations of Uyghur women, and the use of Uyghur forced labor, has been labeled genocide and crimes against humanity by the United States and the legislatures of numerous Western nations.
China has responded to criticism of its policies in Xinjiang by claiming they are essential for the fight against religious extremism and “terrorism.”
Uyghur rights activists criticized Xi’s comments, claiming they foreshadowed more persecution.
Uyghurs prefer the term “East Turkestan,” which is what Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, called Xinjiang in his statement. “It’s crystal clear from Xi Jinping’s speech in Urumqi that the Chinese government and he intend to continue the ongoing Uyghur genocide and crimes against humanity,” Isa stated.
Despite Xi’s appeal for more rosy portrayals of Xinjiang in the media, Isa urged the foreign world to “not be fooled” by such deceptive representations.
China may have committed genocide and crimes against humanity, according to a report released by the United Nations’ human rights office, which was released after Xi’s final visit to Xinjiang in July 2022.
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