NEWS//Xinjiang genocide update
Credible news sources have reported on the mass incarceration of Uighurs in Xinjiang Province. But this group of minority Muslims is also reported to suffer torture, sexual abuse, slave labor, and murder during imprisonment. Family members who are not imprisoned are intimidated to remain silent. In addition, religious freedoms are denied the Uighurs. They are under intense surveillance by video, phone-use, and the installation of state agents in their homes.
China labels all these reports as lies. See our blog post on February 19, 2021.
We offer these articles in an attempt to broaden the understanding of China’s handling of what it perceives as a threat from radical Muslims to national security.
The New Yorker offers an immersive article and animation about the mass internment facilities in Xinjiang and their impact on Uighurs. Survivors of these concentration camps tell their stories.
The Hong Kong Free Press shares a report on how Beijing uses family videos to try to discredit Uyghur advocates. Through the use of video testimonies, China attempts to “discredit the person alleging human rights abuses, the indirect equivalent of intimidating a witness."
The Heritage Foundation calls the use of imprisoned Uighurs in factories modern slavery. It calls on the U.S. to strengthen its response to forced labor in Xinjiang. Its demand? That the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol operates under the assumption that certain categories of goods are made with coerced labor until proven otherwise. Also see this article in Bitter Winter.
Great Britain’s House of Lords and the House of Commons are sparing over a provision in a trade bill that would restrict trade with countries responsible for genocide. Prominent on that list of countries is China for its treatment of the Uighurs. BBC
The Netherlands calls the treatment of Uighurs genocide. Other European countries may follow. Reuters
Canada calls it genocide. CNN
The Biden’s Department of State says it is committed to labeling China’s actions against the Uighurs genocide. Reuters
In a disturbing article on sexual abuse and torture in Xinjiang concentration camps, Bitter Winter publishes eyewitness and survivor reports.
If China sanctions this approach to Uighurs Muslims, will the same approach someday be used against Chinese Christians?
UPDATE March 22, 2021 — APNEWS // On March 22, the European Union, Britain, Canada, and the United States launched coordinated sanctions against officials in China over human rights abuses in the far western Xinjiang region, provoking swift retaliation from Beijing.
The EU targeted four senior officials in Xinjiang. The sanctions involve a freeze on the officials’ assets and a ban on them traveling in the bloc. European citizens and companies are not permitted to provide them with financial assistance.
The 27-nation bloc also froze the assets of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau, which it describes as a “state-owned economic and paramilitary organization” that runs Xinjiang and controls its economy.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the measures were part of “intensive diplomacy” by the U.K, the United States, Canada, and the 27-nation EU to force action amid mounting evidence about serious rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim people.