Author: Nithin Coca
Affiliation: Freelancer
Organization/Publisher: Foreign Affairs
Date/Place: September 10, 2020/USA
Type of Literature: Article
Word Count: 1446
Link:https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-09-10/long-shadow-xinjiang
Keywords: China, Uighur, Atrocities, BRI
Brief:
The author sketches the condition of Uighur Muslims in China. The Chinese government is systematically oppressing Muslims by torture, separating families and scattering them to detention camps which it continually denies exist. Muslims in China are living in a police state under the most advanced and intrusive surveillance in the world. The religion is restricted, Mosques are destroyed, Qurans are confiscated, halal diets are forbidden, and fasting is banned. Uighurs are Turkish speaking people living in the most sensitive frontier province region of Xinjiang, which is the home of some 11 million Uighurs. The communist party seems determined to crush the Uighur’s identity while the world has turned a blind eye towards these atrocities. China’s voluminous investments across the world are keeping it out of the condemnation zone. China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure project, which stretches from Southeast Asia to Central Asia and to the Middle East, has made China a new trading partner for most of the Muslim majority countries. The governments therefore are silent on China’s repression of Muslims. However, civil society groups in Muslim majority countries like Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, and Qatar are incessantly highlighting the issue. China’s economic power, however, provides the Communist party latitude to oppress Muslims, and the sense of impunity towards Uighurs will undoubtedly cause irretrievable consequences for the Muslim world.
By: Maryam Khan, CIGA Research Associate
