China pushes ‘Sinicization of Islam’ in Xinjiang as Ramadan arrives

Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Ma Xingrui attends the Xinjiang delegation meeting on the sidelines of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 7, 2024. (Florence Lo/Reuters) People walk past a disused mosque in Kashgar in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, July 13, 2023. (Pedro Pardo/AFP) A child sits near the entrance to a mosque with a
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UN rights chief says China violating ‘fundamental rights’ in Xinjiang and Tibet, urges release of detainees

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomes the journalist at the Palais Wilson on October 17, 2022. Photo: Violaine Martin/Un Geneva, via Flickr CC2.0. Credit: Violaine Martin Michelle Bachelet. File photo: UN Women. ‘Baseless allegations’ — United Nations Human Rights Council | #HRC55 (@UN_HRC) March 4, 2024 Chen Xu. Photo: UN Geneva, via Flickr.
| China, Defence & Foreign Policy, Politics & Protest

In song and dance, Uyghurs forced to celebrate Lunar New Year

Herdsmen attend a horse race to welcome the upcoming Lunar New Year in Urumqi, capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang region, Jan. 27, 2024. (Liu Xin/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images) People visit a fair for the upcoming Lunar New Year in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, Jan. 27, 2024. (Ding Lei/Xinhua via Getty Images)
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Economic drivers of diversification

Economic drivers of diversification H.Seidl Tue, 01/02/2024 - 16:30 picture alliance / CFOTO Comment Jan 17, 2024 4 min read Economic drivers of diversification Foreign direct investments to China are negative for the first time in decades  Companies are pursuing various diversification strategies  Diversification is a shared imperative for both Chinese and international companies Companies’ motivations to diversify are predominantly economic Author(s) Aya Adachi
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Xinjiang is ‘one of the most heavily policed regions in the world’: study

Police officers stand at the outer entrance of the Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Dabancheng in western China's Xinjiang region, April 23, 2021. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) Auxiliary police and police officers patrol the snow-covered border region in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in China’s Xinjiang region, Oct. 7, 2021. (China Daily via Reuters)
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Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

File photo: StudioIncendo. September 2023 The Court of Appeal heard the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) and the RTHK Staff Union’s joint appeal against the city’s communications regulator’s decision to issue a warning over RTHK’s satirical programme Headliner. August 2023 US photojournalist Matthew Connors, who covered the 2019 protests and unrest, said that he was denied entry to Hong Kong when he tried to visit for tourism
| Hong Kong, Politics & Protest, explainer

Among Uyghurs, China aims to ‘meld Islam with Confucianism’

Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen on a billboard with the slogan, "Administer Xinjiang according to law, unite and stabilize the territory, culturally moisturize the territory, enrich the people and rejuvenate the territory, and build the territory for a long term," in Yarkent County, China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in March 2021. Credit: Ng Han Guan/AP Uyghur security personnel patrol near
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UN labor organization discussed forced labor during Xinjiang visit

Delegates should conduct Xinjiang visits only if they can speak freely with Uyghurs without Chinese government influence, says Jewher Ilham, forced labor project coordinator at the Worker Rights Consortium. Credit: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP file photo Ma Xingrui, Xinjiang’s Communist Party secretary, denied the existence of human rights violations and forced labor in the region when he met with the ILO delegation, according
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Major Muslim group buys into China’s narrative of happy Uyghurs in a stable Xinjiang

Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama, head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation delegation, praised 'the prosperity and development of China’s Xinjiang under good governance' during the visit. Credit: Screenshot from AFP file video The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has a moral duty to express concerns about the suffering of Muslims around the world and offer support to Uyghurs, says Erkin Ekrem, an associate professor
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Prominent Uyghur activist learns about father’s death in Xinjiang months after demise

Abdulkerim Zikrullah Idris (bottom, R) is seen with his wife, Habibehan Idris, son Abdulhakim Idris (top, L), Abdulhakim’s two children and a friend in Munich, Germany, in 2001. Credit: Courtesy photo The last photo of Abdulkerim Zikrullah Idris, taken in 2014 in Hotan in China’s far-western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Credit: Courtesy photo
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Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

File photo: StudioIncendo. June 2023 A Hong Kong press group urged the city’s police to provide an explanation after its former chairperson was led away by officers while she was reporting on the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown. The Hong Kong government condemned US politicians’ calls for a joint effort with the UK to prioritise the release of pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy
| Hong Kong, Politics & Protest, explainer

China district police build surveillance system targeting foreign journalists, Uyghurs

Police in China's Shanghai province are building a huge surveillance system which is able to alert and notify authorities when foreign journalists travel to Xinjiang province and when Uyghurs venture outside that area. Back in March this year, authorities in Songjiang District – one of Shanghai's largest districts with over 1.5 million residents – had announced that a local integrator
| Asia & Americas, China, News

Explainer: The decline of Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

File photo: StudioIncendo. May 2023 The government watchdog agreed to investigate HKFP’s complaint against the Information Services Department over their handling of a press event which saw several government-registered outlets barred from attendance without explanation. Blocking pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s overseas counsel from representing him in his national security trial is “persecution not prosecution,” his lawyer said in an application to halt
| Hong Kong, Politics & Protest, explainer

'The Chinese authorities must release my 19-year-old sister,' demands Uyghur engineer

Genocide against the Uyghur Muslims continues to worsen as the world looks on, despite its mass atrocities that have come into stark focus over the past five years. Thousands of Uyghur children have been abandoned without parents and family, as their mothers, fathers and siblings are forced into Chinese internment camps, prisons and other detention facilities, according to evidence from
| Asia & Americas, China, Interviews

Quizzed at UN, Chinese delegates deny rights abuses against Uyghurs, Tibetans

A perimeter fence surrounds what is officially known as a vocational skills education center in Dabancheng in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region. Speaking about the centers, a Chinese official told the CESCR committee, 'They have the security measures that are necessary for a school, but they are completely different from those found in prisons and detention centers.' Credit: Reuters file photo Students
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Fate of Uyghur miners trapped in gold mine collapse uncertain after nearly 2 weeks

The fate of 18 miners – mostly Uyghurs – trapped in a collapsed gold mine in China’s far-western Xinjiang province remained uncertain, officials said, implying that rescuers have failed to pull any of them out alive nearly two weeks after the Christmas Eve disaster. “I know that the rescue operation is going on, but I don’t know the result of the
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INTERVIEW: 'I think we have the beginning of mutual understanding'

U.K.-based rights activist Rahima Mahmut has long been a vocal critic of the Chinese government, taking aim at the mass incarceration, surveillance and persecution of the Uyghur ethnic group in Xinjiang and countering Beijing's official propaganda from overseas. She has recently also made common cause with majority ethnic Han Chinese people studying in Britain, not least during a series of protests
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Uyghurs make up most of 18 workers trapped in collapsed gold mine in Xinjiang

Most of the 18 miners trapped underground in a collapsed gold mine in China’s far-western Xinjiang region have been identified as Uyghur amid ongoing rescue operations five days after the disaster occurred, sources in the region told Radio Free Asia on Thursday. The mine in Qarayaghach town of Ghulja county, known as Yining in Chinese, and owned by West Gold Yili
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Renowned Uyghur poet dies following prison release in Xinjiang

A renowned Uyghur writer and poet in poor health when released from prison died on Dec. 18 because he could not obtain food or medical treatment amid a strict coronavirus lockdown, according to social media posts and information from relevant government organizations. Abdulla Sawut, 72, was an important figure in contemporary Uyghur literature. His most famous novels and novellas are The
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Former Uyghur Muslim preacher confirmed dead in prison in China’s Xinjiang

A Uyghur Muslim preacher serving a five-year sentence in China’s far-western Xinjiang region for making a religious pilgrimage abroad died of liver cancer in prison in February, according to a police officer who works in the district where the preacher resided. Omar Huseyin, 55, was the former hatip, or preacher, at the Qarayulghun Mosque in Korla, known as Ku’erle in Chinese
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Uyghur nutritionist confirmed detained in China’s Xinjiang

Authorities in China’s far-western Xinjiang region have detained a well-known Uyghur nutritionist for messages he posted on social media, according to Sweden-based siblings and police in the region’s capital Urumqi. Behtiyar Sadir, 46, a national-level health coach and member of Xinjiang’s Association of Health and Nutrition, went missing in mid-October when authorities placed Urumqi and other regional population centers under a
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Uyghur groups urge world leaders to make Dec. 9 Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day

Some 55 Uyghur organizations have called on world leaders to recognize Dec. 9 as Uyghur Genocide Recognition Day, marking the day a year ago that an independent U.K.-based Uyghur Tribunal announced its findings that China committed genocide against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in its western Xinjiang region. The tribunal held in London based its verdict on testimony from dozens of
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Uyghur groups urge leaders of Muslim states to condemn genocide in China’s Xinjiang

More than 50 Uyghur groups on Thursday urged heads of states and leaders of international organizations meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week in Saudi Arabia to condemn China’s atrocity crimes against the Uyghurs and end the genocide in its far-western Xinjiang region. Xi, who is paying a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement
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The Guardian – Chinese state-owned surveillance company launches sinister ethnicity recognition tech while facing UK ban

Hikvision, a Chinese state-owned surveillance tech company, advertised a dangerous new feature which includes using facial recognition technology to identify sensitive information like gender, race, and ethnicity. Hikvision and Dahua Technology have been found to be providing the technological infrastructure which facilitates the monitoring of Uyghurs, a minority Muslim community in Xinjiang facing ethnic cleansing. Campaigners at Big Brother Watch alongside
| Press Coverage, chinese surveillance, hikvision

Victims in Urumqi fire that sparked protests were all Uyghurs, officials confirm

The victims who died in last week’s apartment block fire in Urumqi – which triggered protests across China against harsh anti-virus restrictions – were all Uyghurs, two officials confirmed to Radio Free Asia. At least 10 people perished in the Nov. 24 blaze in the regional capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region amid reports that local lockdown measures impeded the
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INTERVIEW: ‘If they had let my family out, they would still be alive’

On Nov. 24, a fire tore through a residential building in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s capital Urumqi, killing at least 10 people. Citizen videos that circulated on the Internet showed screaming residents of the burning apartment demanding authorities open exits they said were closed under strict COVID-19 restrictions that have been in place for more than 100 days and
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Channel 4 – Human rights abusing surveillance tech used by at least 11 police forces in the UK

Surveillance products by Chinese state-owned company, Hikvision are being used to monitor an ethnic minority community, Uyghur Muslims, in “re-education” camps in the Xinjiang region. Shockingly, the same firm is supplying at least 11 police forces in the UK, entrusting human rights abusing surveillance tech to watch over millions of UK residents. The England and Wales CCTV commissioner told Channel 4
| Press Coverage, banhikvision, chinese surveillance

US calls on UN human rights council to debate rights violations in China’s Xinjiang region

The United States on Monday called on the UN Human Rights Council to organise a debate on rights violations in China’s Xinjiang region, following a report warning of possible crimes against humanity. Washington presented the first-ever draft resolution to the top UN rights body focused on China, asking it to “hold a debate on the […]
| China, Defence & Foreign Policy, Politics & Protest

EU Unveils Plan to Ban Products Made With Forced Labor

On Wednesday, the European Commission officially released its proposal for banning products made with forced labor from entering EU markets. While the proposed regulation does not single out a specific country, it is widely seen as a response to mounting evidence of forced labor in China, particularly in Xinjiang, that has tainted supply chains for […]
| China & the World, Economy, Human Rights

Minitrue: “Win This Smokeless War” Over Online Discourse on Xinjiang Lockdown

The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. @Everyone Notice from the Public Security Internet Monitoring Department: Effective immediately, no group is to pass on any content (including video, audio, or text) that has not received official confirmation or that conveys negative energy! Group leaders and […]
| CDT Highlights, Law, Level 2 Article

UN Report: “Serious Human Rights Violations” in Xinjiang May Constitute Crimes Against Humanity

With about ten minutes to midnight on her last day as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet finally released her long-overdue report on Xinjiang. The 46-page report concluded that the Chinese government has committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups that “may constitute […] crimes against humanity.” Human Rights […]
| China & the World, Human Rights, Law

The Telegraph – DWP announces decision to remove Hikvision cameras

The Department for Work and Pensions announced they will be making changes to their security systems by removing security cameras manufactured by Hikvision, a Chinese technology company that has been under heavy scrutiny by UK authorities following their participation in the imprisonment and torture of Uyghur Muslims in China. The move mirrors that taken by the Department of Health, which
| Press Coverage, cctv, hikvision

US student invents Braille system for visually impaired Uyghurs

The Uyghur Braille alphabet in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of Harris Mowbray. The Braille alphabet. Credit Wikimedia Commons Safeguarding the Uyghur language US university student Harris Mowbray in an undated photo. Photo courtesy of Harris Mobray In 2000, China banned the use of the Uyghur language in government communications, which also blocked the creation of Uyghur Braille in Xinjiang. But independent linguists from
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China’s persecution of Uyghurs is preview of wider surveillance scheme, lawmakers say

A government installed facial recognition device to grant residents access to their compound is seen on a gate in Urumqi, capital of northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, May 7, 2021. Credit: Reuters Personnel inspect a surveillance drone on the runway of the airport in Hotan in northwestern China's Xinjiang region, May 30, 2019. Credit: AFP
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Mural of former Uyghur detainee spreads news of Chinese abuses in Xinjiang

French street artist Mahn Kloix paints a mural depicting Tursunay Ziawudun, a former Uyghur detainee who has left China and spoken publicly about her experience in an internment camp, in the southern French port city of Marseille, October 2021. Credit: Mahn Kloix/Instagram French street artist Mahn Kloix paints a mural depicting Tursunay Ziawudun, a former Uyghur detainee who has left China
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China’s Xinjiang Repression Targeted at International Religious Freedom Summit

Nury Turkel (3rd from L), vice chair of the US Committee on International Religious Freedom, participates in a panel discussion on China's use of artificial intelligence and high tech in its campaign against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, July 14, 2021. Credit: RFA A Muslim man reads a sign attached to the entrance of a
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2021 Journalism Awards: A China Reportage Reading List

The 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Public Service Winner: The New York Times January 6, 2020 – China Grapples With Mystery Pneumonia-Like Illness By Sui-Lee Wee and Vivian Wang February 1, 2020 – As New Coronavirus Spread, China’s Old Habits Delayed Fight By Chris Buckley and Steven Lee Myers February 2, 2020 – Wuhan Coronavirus Looks Increasingly Like a Pandemic, Experts Say By Donald G. McNeil Jr. June 26,
| China & the World, Information Revolution, Level 2 Article

Rights Researchers Urge UN Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity in Xinjiang

A Uyghur woman (C) walks through a security checkpoint to enter a bazaar in Hotan, in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), May 31, 2019. AFP Farmers pick cotton in a field in Xinjiiang's Hami prefecture, in a file photo. AFP Uyghurs enjoy life in the XUAR in a frame grab from The Wings of Song. China Film Administration
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US Firms Must Cut Ties to Xinjiang Due to Extensive Forced Labor, Lack of Due Diligence: Experts

A guard watchtower rises along a perimeter fence of what is officially known as a 'vocational center' in Urumqi's Dabancheng district, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Sept. 4, 2018. Reuters Officials meet with workers at the Zhuowan factory in Ghulja county, in the XUAR's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in an undated photo. RFA listener A photo posted to the WeChat account
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Xinjiang Labor Transfer Scheme Constitutes Crimes Against Humanity: Report

Officials meet with workers at the Zhuowan factory in Ghulja county, in the XUAR's Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in an undated photo. RFA listener A facility believed to be an internment camp located north of Kashgar, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, June 2, 2019. AFP US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken addresses the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva via
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US Sec State Blinken Says China ‘Will be Held to Account’ For Xinjiang Abuses at UN Rights Council

Uyghurs rally to press the State Department to fight for the freedom of Uyghurs unjustly imprisoned in Chinese internment camps, at the US Mission to the United Nations, in a file photo. RFA UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet speaks at the COP25 Climate summit in Madrid, Spain, in a file photo. AP Photo
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US urged to reintroduce bill banning Uighur forced-labour products

The bill would allow a US president to force sanction on anyone responsible for the labour trafficking of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China. Student coalitions and US lawmakers are calling for the reintroduction of a bill that bans all imports from China's Western province of Xinjiang  - proven to be made under forced labour - to be
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‘Push Corporations to be More Transparent About Sourcing’: Investigative Reporter on Xinjiang

Amelia Pang is an award-winning investigative journalist of mixed Chinese and Uyghur descent who was born and raised in the U.S. Although her maternal grandmother was raised according to Uyghur traditions in the capital of northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), her mother learned little of her Uyghur heritage or language due to forced assimilation policies that promoted Mandarin
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CDT Weekly, February 12-18: Ilham Tohti, Xinjiang, and Why Clubhouse Had to Die

Welcome to the second edition of CDT’s weekly roundup, also available as an email newsletter through Substack. With these updates, we aim to provide an overview of new content across CDT’s English and Chinese sites, as well as the bilingual China Digital Space wiki, and related content elsewhere. The highlight of our translation content this week was a long essay from
| CDT Highlights, China & the World, Human Rights

In a word: How does Uighur 'genocide' designation affect US policy?

Comment: Whether to designate human rights atrocities as genocide is a fraught discussion that can hinder rather than precipitate further action, writes Allison Quatrini. In a call Wednesday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, President Joe Biden made a point to express his concerns about the PRC's human rights record - including its policies toward Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Muslim-minority
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Uyghur Group Defends Detainee Database After Xinjiang Officials Allege ‘Fake Archive’

Erfan Hezim in an official photo issued by Jiangsu Suning F.C. Photo courtesy of Jiangsu Suning F.C. Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann (L) reads Liu Xiaobo's text 'I have no enemies' next to the The Nobel Peace Prize committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland (R) sitting next to an empty chair at the ceremony for the Nobel Laureate and dissident Liu Xiaobo at City
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China blocks Clubhouse after netizens discuss Xinjiang and Tiananmen

For a brief moment in time, Clubhouse cracked the Great FirewallImage by the Stand News. Used with permission. On February 8 China blocked Clubhouse, the United States-based, audio-only social network that mainland netizens have been using to discuss politically-sensitive topics away from the prying eyes of government's censors. Launched in 2020, Clubhouse is the fastest growing social networking site worldwide. Users —
| Access, Advocacy, Censorship

China's Alibaba seeks to distance itself from Uighur facial-recognition software

Chinese tech giants Huawei and Alibaba have been implicated in developing facial-recognition software targeting Uighur Muslims. Chinese tech giant Alibaba has sought to distance itself from a face-recognition software feature devised by its cloud computing unit that could help users to identify members of the country's Muslim Uighur minority.
| News