Why is China Targeting Uyghur Muslims?


The Uyghurs comprise one of the largest of China’s official nationalities, or minzu, with an official population of around 12 million. The vast majority reside in the “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,” a designation for their homeland that was fixed by Beijing in 1955. The Uighurs argued that their religion, language, and cultural practices are different from the rest of China and the group struggled for years in claiming independence.

In 1933, they declared themselves as an independent state known as East Turkestan, however, the nationalist Chinese army defeated them. Again in 1944, the Uighurs declared the formation of the East Turkestan Republic, and yet again the Chinese annexed the region. Since 1949, thousands of Uighur Muslims have escaped to neighboring countries to avoid political and religious oppression, which led to a significant decline in their population.

Workers walk along the fence of a likely detention center for Muslims in Xinjiang on September 4, 2018. Thomas Peter/Reuters

The United Nations as of summer 2018, reported that at least one million Uighurs have been detained, with approximately two million having been forced into ‘re-education camps.’ There is also evidence that Uyghurs are being used as forced labour and of women being forcibly sterilised. Some former camp detainees have also alleged they were tortured and sexually abused.

Chinese Authorities Tortured Prominent Muslim Industrialist to Death, As Oppression of Uyghurs Continues

Similarly, the Chinese government has also been accused of targeting Muslim religious figures and banning religious practices in the region, as well as destroying mosques and tombs. According to a research by a Uyghur rights group, China has imprisoned or detained at least 630 imams and other Muslim religious figures since 2014 in its crackdown in the Xinjiang region, according to new research by a Uyghur rights group.

Meanwhile, China has rejected the allegations, saying its policies towards the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities living in its far western region, are necessary to “fight extremism” and to promote upward economic mobility for the impoverished ethnic groups. However, internal Chinese government documents leaked in late 2019 have provided important details on how officials launched and maintain the detention camps, erase their language and way of life.

China has so much economic and geopolitical clout that most governments want to avoid risking any clash with Beijing, especially on issues that China’s government views as internal matters. Indeed, some governments of Muslim-majority states have even defended Beijing’s heavy-handed approach as necessary to combat “terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism” in Xinjiang. When will Chinese government stop these atrocities against Uighurs? This is a question the whole world should ask.

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