Persecution of Uyghurs in China

The Chinese government is committing a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang that is often characterized as persecution or as genocide. Quotes I believe, however, that the hatred of the Chinese Communists, hatred which dates back to Mao Zedong, is much more violent towards Tibetan Buddhism than it is against the Islamic separatists of Xinjiang. Moreover, recently, a senior Chinese official commented that Tibetan separatism is more dangerous than that of Xinjiang. Strange, when we are a religion that preaches absolute non-violence. Besides, I will give you an example of this hateful partiality against my people: in Chinese prisons, the prison guards respect Muslim customs by not serving pork, but they force Buddhist monks to kill cows and pigs, knowing that our religion forbids it. Dalai Lama, quoted from François Gautier - Les mots du dernier Dalaï-lama (2018, Flammarion) 2019 Frankly, I don’t know much about it... If I had enough knowledge I would speak about it. It is not so much in the papers. Imran Kahn about the issue of Persecution of Uyghurs in China. Interview cited in Pakistan’s Khan dodges questions on mass Chinese detention of Muslims also cited in , I did not find any instance of forced labor or cultural and religious repression. The imams we met at the mosques and the students and teachers at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute told us that they enjoy freedom in practicing Islam and that the Chinese government extends support for maintenance of mosques all over Xinjiang. I learned that there are over 30,000 mosques all over Xinjiang that form part of the religious life of the people there. Similarly, I did not see any sign of cultural repression... My country is also plagued by terrorism. I hope my country can adopt some of these measures, such as setting up a vocational education and training center and carrying out poverty alleviation work, to help de-extremization. But they don't have so much money to do this. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch. Deputy Head of Mission Pakistan Embassy in China, Senior Pakistani diplomat. 24th January 2019 2020 I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uyghurs, the Yazidi -- what ISIS did to them was truly cruel -- or Christians in Egypt and Pakistan killed by bombs that went off while they prayed in church. Pope Francis says in the book, "Let Us Dream: The Path to A Better Future," published on November 23, 2020. CNN News [W]e are a 100% satisfied that it’s a non-issue. The West can say what it wants. I am telling you as a responsible official, we know everything we need to know about the Uighurs and everything else in China as they do about us. We have zero concerns, absolutely zero concerns. Moeed Yusuf, in Full Text: Interview with Imran Khan’s NSA on Kashmir, Uighurs, Jadhav, Terror and Talks also cited at October 2020 2021 After careful examination of the available facts, I have determined that since at least March 2017, the People’s Republic of China, under the direction and control of the Chinese Communist Party, has committed crimes against humanity against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other members of ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. Mike Pompeo. Pompeo says China’s policies on Muslims amount to ‘genocide’ Because of our extreme proximity and relationship with China, we actually accept the Chinese version... It is hypocritical. There are much worse human rights violations taking place in other parts of the world… But Western media hardly comment on this. Imran Khan Imran Khan: Pakistan accepts ‘Chinese version’ of treatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang Imran Khan again ignores China's treatment of Uighurs, says accepts 'Chinese version' I’m not sure that’s what’s happening in China. In our conversations with China, they have drawn a different picture of the issue. And whatever issues we do have with the Chinese, we will always discuss them behind closed doors. Imran Khan Imran Khan again refuses to condemn repression of Uighurs, says Pakistan 'accepts Chinese version' But Khan’s work in championing the world’s Muslims is undercut by his deafening silence on the oppression of the Uighur community in China... When asked publicly about the Uighurs, Khan’s responses range from declaring he knows little about the issue to saying he is discussing the matter privately with Beijing. About Imran Khan's position on the Uyghurs. Imran Khan’s Silence on Uighurs Undercuts His Defense of Muslims Worldwide 2022 Pakistan remains of the firm view that the perspective and consent of the concerned States should be given utmost importance when dealing with the affairs which fall exclusively within their sovereign jurisdiction. Pakistan Ambassador A. Khan, speaking at UNHRC resolution over China's Uyghur persecution. in By receiving billions of dollars from China, these countries are not only forced to remain quiet on the genocidal atrocities against Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan but also commanded from Beijing to do whatever the PRC wants. Abdulhakim Idris, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Uyghur Studies, quoted in Organization of Islamic Cooperation Accused of Ignoring Uyghur Muslims in China The Turkish side never uses Xinjiang-related issues as a tool against China and has long designated the ETIM (East Turkistan Islamic Movement) as a terrorist organization and banned its activities in Turkey. Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu quoted by Wang Wenbin , in Turkey promises not to allow any anti-China activities on Turkish soil, criticizes allies over Olympics boycott In China, Uyghurs and other Muslims have difficulties protecting their religious rights and cultural identity... Is it right to ignore the situation of the Uyghurs? Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu IN Organization of Islamic Cooperation Accused of Ignoring Uyghur Muslims in China 2024 Why is it wrong for [the] Uyghurs to seek help from other states to protect their national existence and gain national freedom and to seek partners in international conflicts, while the country of Pakistan, where you studied, has the right to receive help from [the Communist régime ruling] China at the expense of sacrificing the rights of Uyghur Muslims to feed its own people with blood-tainted Chinese [Communist Party] money? Rebiya Kadeer and Shohret Hoshur (Kok Bayraq), "China Finds a “Useful Idiot” in Trinidad: Sheikh Imran Hussein", Bitter Winter (February 12, 2024) Compiler's Note: Shohret Hoshur used the pseudonym "Kok Bayraq" in his articles at Bitter Winter until August 2025. Darren Byler, an [American] anthropologist, is Assistant Professor of International Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a specialist of Xinjiang. In new, fascinating research he reports a strange phenomenon. Irrigation channels are clogged in Southern Xinjiang but there have been no landslides or other natural incidents. They are clogged by books. Villagers go there at night and dump all the volumes they kept at home. The police are visiting their homes and would arrest them if they find religious, subversive, or otherwise “dissident” literature. Since they don’t know what books may be regarded as subversive, to be on the safer side they dump all of them. Elsewhere, books are dumped in the sewers, and they are also obstructed. Massimo Introvigne, "Criminal Law Is Not Retroactive, Right? Not True if You Are a Muslim in Xinjiang", Bitter Winter (March 12, 2024) 2025 The spark that ignited the [June 15, 1988 Uyghur Xinjiang University students'] protest came after years of systematic discrimination and humiliation of Uyghur students. On May 5, 1988, racist and degrading graffiti were scrawled in the restroom of the Physics Department at Xinjiang University in Urumqi. The words included vile slogans such as: “Let’s make Uyghur men slaves, and turn their girls into prostitutes.”Despite the disgraceful nature of this incident, the university administration and authorities remained silent. Uyghur students attempted to voice their concerns through legal and official channels, submitting petitions and seeking dialogue. All efforts were either rejected or ignored. It became clear—silence was no longer an option. …What started as discrimination in the 1980s has now escalated into full-scale genocide. Dolkun Isa, "The Day That Ignited the Flame of Freedom: A Personal Memory of the June 15 Uyghur Student Demonstration", Bitter Winter (June 19, 2025) 2026 Uyghurs know what Beijing’s vocabulary means in practice. “Development” can mean dispossession and political incorporation. “Aid” can mean administrative penetration. “Ethnic unity” can mean state intrusion into the family home. “Service” can become surveillance. “Cultural nourishment” can mean replacing a people’s language, religion, memory, and identity. Carefully selected stories of prosperity can conceal a system of repression. Asiye Uyghur, "How Beijing Turns Human Relationships Into Instruments of Power", Bitter Winter (August 26, 2026) One Uyghur I knew told me that, during a video call with their parents in the homeland, a police officer was standing beside them. According to this person, the officer demanded that they collect information inside the Uyghur community abroad. The officer also warned that, before becoming involved in activities the authorities considered inappropriate, they should think about the safety of their parents and other relatives in the homeland. Unsure how to respond, the person asked me for advice. I urged them to reject the demand, because cooperating even once could draw them into an escalating cycle of coercion that would become increasingly difficult to escape. After that conversation, however, all contact between us abruptly stopped. I still do not know what happened to this person, and I cannot infer what choice they ultimately made.On another occasion, an acquaintance whom I had known for many years but had not spoken to for a long time called me late at night. When I answered, they were crying so intensely that they could not speak for some time. They eventually told me that their mother had been detained in a camp without any legitimate reason and had later developed cancer. Her illness had reached its final stage. According to my acquaintance, the police were using her continued medical treatment as leverage, demanding information about Uyghurs abroad and warning that, if the acquaintance refused to cooperate, the mother might die sooner. I tried to comfort them and advised them to disclose the case publicly, in the hope that international pressure could prevent the authorities from continuing to use their mother’s life as an instrument of coercion. After that call, this person also fell silent. I do not know what happened to the mother or what the acquaintance ultimately endured.In both cases, contact stopped. Their silence does not prove that either person accepted the authorities’ demands. It does reveal one of the cruelest features of wikt:transnational repression transnational repression: victims are often left alone with a choice in which no option feels safe. Refusing may expose relatives in the homeland to retaliation; complying may harm their own community and pull them deeper into a system they cannot easily leave. Asiye Uyghur, "No Uyghur Is Beyond Reach: AI and Beijing’s New Machinery of Transnational Repression", Bitter Winter (September 18, 2026) External links Uyghur genocide Category:China Category:Uyghurs