All Reading
This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.
Starting Points:
Major Muslim group buys into China’s narrative of happy Uyghurs in a stable Xinjiang
Seeking to promote its narrative about the peace and prosperity enjoyed by majority-Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China invited delegates from the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to observe.
China pumps up narrative of happy Uyghurs in Xinjiang among Pakistanis
The sudden rise in popularity of a media star with ties to the Chinese Embassy has raised questions among Uyghurs living in Pakistan about Beijing’s efforts to use local Uyghurs as propaganda tools.
Pakistan threatens to send Uyghur refugee families back to China
Police and intelligence officers showed up the home of a Uyghur refugee in Pakistan to warn him that he and his family would be repatriated to China if their U.N.-issued refugee cards weren’t renewed.
Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2023: China and Tibet
This section of the annual report by Human Rights Watch reviewing human rights around the globe explores developments in China and Tibet over the course of 2022.
Who are the Uyghurs? Genocide, forced labour and endless Chinese atrocities; Dolkun Isa interview
Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, discusses the history of Chinese repression in Xinjiang and his lived experiences of the system of forced assimilation, the silencing of influential Uyghur figures and China’s mass detention of Uyghurs.
Why African countries back China on human rights
African countries are not among those calling out China for its treatment of the mostly Muslim Uyghur population in the north-western region of Xinjiang. In fact some African diplomats recently attended an event in Beijing and lauded China's policy in the region.
China's Decimation of Uyghur Minds
Academics, journalists and rights groups have recently documented the accelerating repression of the 11-million strong Uyghur population living in Xinjiang. The burgeoning security apparatus, ubiquitous surveillance, gathering of biometrics, the use of big data, and similar technological features of Chinese authoritarianism have invited comparisons of Xinjiang to an open-air prison or to the dystopian visions captured in Orwell’s 1984 or Zamyatin’s We.
Thoroughly Reforming Them Towards a Healthy Heart Attitude: China's Political Re-education Campaign in Xinjiang.
This paper investigates publicly available evidence of China’s political re-education facilities from official sources, including government websites, media reports and other Chinese internet sources.
The extraordinary ways in which China humiliates Muslims - Bans on “abnormal” beards and even the name “Muhammad”
Chinese officials describe the far western province of Xinjiang as a “core area” in the vast swathe of territory covered by the country’s grandiose “Belt and Road Initiative” to boost economic ties with Central Asia and regions beyond. They hope that wealth generated by the scheme will help to make Xinjiang more stable—for years it has been plagued by separatist violence which China says is being fed by global jihadism. But the authorities are not waiting. In recent months they have intensified their efforts to stifle the Islamic identity of Xinjiang’s ethnic Uighurs, fearful that any public display of their religious belief could morph into militancy.