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:
NGOs: Thailand may be planning to deport Uyghurs to China
Thailand has moved dozens of Uyghurs from around the kingdom to a single facility in Bangkok, raising fears among NGOs that the government may deport them to China.
Uyghur prisoners forced to speak in Chinese during virtual visits with relatives
Uyghurs prisoners in Xinjiang are forced to speak in Mandarin and perform obvious displays of subservience to their Chinese guards in monthly video calls with relatives, Uyghurs living in exile say.
China exploits US social media to push its own Xinjiang narratives, report finds
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using increasingly elaborate online tactics to counter information about human rights abuses in western China’s Xinjiang region in hopes of influencing audiences across the globe, according to a new report.
Interview: ‘You have to put people over profit’
Jewish World Watch’s executive director sits down with RFA to discuss the launch of the Uyghur Forced Labor Database, which lists Western companies across a number of sectors that have been implicated as benefiting from Uyghur forced labor.
Xi Jinping’s Xinjiang visit may signal new emphasis on the assimilation of Uyghurs
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to Xinjiang signals a new emphasis on the assimilation of the Uyghurs, analysts said.
Chinese use Muslim holiday for propaganda purposes, celebrating with Uyghurs
China’s state media reported on huiju work teams of local cadres who “visited” Uyghurs bearing gifts of food and who helped them work in their fields in celebration of the holiday. State media also released a video of Uyghurs dancing in what some observers said were staged performances.
New report details China’s efforts to control Uyghurs beyond its borders
The CCP uses deceptive and coercive influence operations around the globe to undermine Uyghurs living outside China, often through the United Front Work Department (UFWD), say researchers in a new policy paper.
Thousands of ‘Terrorism Suspects’ on ‘Shanghai List’ Include Uyghur Children, Elderly
The recently leaked document provides new insight into how China characterizes extremist threats. More than three quarters of the names on a recently leaked Chinese government list of some 10,000 “suspected terrorists” are ethnic Uyghurs, while the document includes hundreds of minors and the elderly, providing rare insight into how Beijing characterizes threats it has used to lock up more than a million people.
China razes Kashgar’s iconic Grand Bazaar
Analysis of satellite images shows dramatic changes in the market, including the removal of buildings and the roofs of stalls, between photos taken a month apart. According to one local official, a new tourist attraction will arise in its place.
Xinjiang officials said to pay Uyghurs to perform dance at Kashgar mosque
Authorities in Kashgar allegedly paid Muslim Uyghur men to dance outside the most famous mosque in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region to celebrate the end of Ramadan, RFA reports.
US, Chinese diplomats square off on Twitter over human rights, jailed Uyghur
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield sparked a social media spat with her Chinese counterpart on Wednesday after she called on the head of the U.N. Human Rights Council to release an overdue report on rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.
Relatives of detained Uyghurs forced to work in Xinjiang factories
Hundreds of family members of detained Uyghur residents of a small community in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region have been forced to work in local government-run factories, a source with knowledge of the situation and a local police officer said.
Uyghurs in exile grapple with discussing genocide in Xinjiang with their children
It’s never easy for teenagers and children to discuss tragedies in their families, nor is it easy for parents to broach such topics with their offspring. Uyghurs, who are being persecuted as an ethnic and religious group by the Chinese government, face a common challenge of figuring out how best to talk with young people about the 21st-century atrocities occurring in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.
Prominent Uyghur journalist said to be serving 15 years for ‘political crimes’
A prominent Uyghur journalist who went missing in November 2017 is serving 15 years in prison in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region for “political crimes,” his son and authorities in the region told RFA.
Chinese officials restrict number of Uyghurs observing Ramadan
Chinese authorities in Xinjiang are restricting the number of Muslims allowed to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, drawing heavy criticism from rights groups that see the government directive as the latest effort to diminish Uyghur culture in the region.
Uyghur volleyball coach gets 8 years in jail for ‘befriending bearded men’
A national-level Uyghur volleyball coach is serving an eight-year prison sentence for “befriending bearded men,” under a deepening crackdown on Islamic practices and culture, a Uyghur living in exile and a local police officer told RFA. Alimjan Mehmut’s name is also on a list of Uyghur torchbearers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games who have been imprisoned in recent years, caught in a wider crackdown on the ethnic minority group.
Hundreds of Uyghurs said to be detained in camp in Xinjiang’s Manas county
Nearly 800 Uyghurs are being held in a detention camp in Manas county in northwestern China’s Xinjiang, said an official from the area who previously worked at the facility. The official also said that the Uyghur inmates had been arrested for committing “serious crimes,” such as praying, and that inside the facility they learned “the national language” of Mandarin Chinese.
China moves to close down Uyghur cultural, language organizations
The Chinese government’s move to shut down more than 150 Uyghur cultural research and language organizations is another indication of the cultural eradication of the mostly Muslim community, those once involved in the organizations and Uyghur artists said.
UN head reiterates call for China to allow ‘credible’ Xinjiang visit
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday again called on China to allow outside officials to visit Xinjiang to observe how the government is treating Uyghur Muslims there.
Turkey closes Uyghur school in Istanbul after China complains
Authorities in Istanbul closed a Uyghur elementary school there allegedly at the request of the Chinese government officials who worried students were receiving anti-China instruction, the principal and the parents of students said.