Arbitrary Detainment and Persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang
By Anonymous
The Chinese government recently heightened its efforts to repress the Muslim population of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Province. Arbitrary detentions, forceful imprisonment, and ideological indoctrination characterize the systematic persecution of Xinjiang’s Uighur population.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has effectively turned Xinjiang into a police state. Imprisonment in what the CCP calls “re-education camps” became a possible reality for much of Xinjiang’s native population. Those who are not held are pressured into showing compliance with societal norms by publicly renouncing their faith. Public demeaning of the Muslim population entails forcing those who practice to not fast during the month of Ramadan, eat pork, and drink alcohol.
With transparency and access of information hindered by the Chinese authorities, little is known of Xinjiang’s imprisonment camps. The Chinese government repeatedly denies that it is unlawfully imprisoning Xinjiang Muslims or forcefully re-educating Uyghurs in an attempt to ensure cultural compliance with the Han ethnic majority, instead claiming that it is offering voluntary vocational training as part of an anti-extremist program. Former prisoners, however, affirm that such camps resemble prisons much more than schools. Hardly any prisoners are released from the camps.
The prospects for those of Xinjiang’s population not being held in the camps is scarcely any better. Movement within China is limited and travel abroad is almost nonexistent for them as the CCP avoids granting Uyghurs any passports. Privacy is virtually unheard of, with the government’s constant monitoring of Uyghur activity looking for signs of dissent.
The repression of Xinjiang’s Muslim population is nothing new to China. Historically, the racially and linguistically different Uyghurs have faced subjugation by the larger Han majority. Recently, calls and agitations for greater autonomy triggered heavier government action against the ethnic group. The July 2009 Urumqi Riots led to the deaths of over 200 people in Xinjiang, prompting the government to increase suppression towards Uyghurs. However, it was President Xi Jinping’s ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative that heightened CCP’s paranoia of Xinjiang’s Uyghurs.
The One Belt, One Road (BRI) initiative aims to project Chinese influence abroad and establish China as the new global hegemon. Costing trillions of dollars, the BRI invests in infrastructure projects in regions from Sub-Saharan Africa to Latin America. However, for the inland objectives of One Belt, One Road, the Eurasian heartland remains crucial to Xi Jinping’s foreign policy aspirations. Xinjiang, holding a prized geographical position that connects the rest of China with the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, is seen as key to the success of the initiative. The capital of Urumqi and the border town of Kashgar, for example, are of vital strategic importance to China’s attempt to magnify the soft power it projects over its neighbors to the West. China’s crackdown on perceived dissent in Xinjiang showcases how much importance it attributes to the region.
Despite China’s ominous track record of human rights abuses in Xinjiang and elsewhere, international criticism and action has been bleak. Turkey, holding the largest Uyghur diaspora outside of China, voiced the most pertinent criticism so far, labelling China’s actions towards its Uyghur population as “torturing and political brainwashing.” However, despite growing criticism of Beijing’s actions, foreign governments have yet to take substantive action in defence of the oppressed people in Xinjiang.
Growing international criticism of China’s treatment of Uyghurs has shown indirect detriments to its Belt and Road initiative. For example, Increasing criticism from Kazakhstan’s population, regardless of its government showing no opposition to China’s crackdown worry Beijing as it questions whether its BRI is possible without the support from the population of its neighbors.
Some claim that it is not too late for China to seek reconciliation with its Uyghurs. If the Central Asian trade routes envisioned by President Xi become a reality, an amicable relationship with Xinjiang’s Muslims will be of invaluable importance to the CCP. However, as the situation in Xinjiang now stands, the future looks grim for Muslims in Xinjiang.
