The Uyghurs are a mainly Muslim Turkic ethnic group living in the far-western Xinjiang Autonomous Region in western China. The Uyghurs differ greatly from their Han Chinese neighbors in religion, culture, dress, food, and even appearance. In fact, they are more related to the various peoples of Central Asia, such as the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, than the Han. The difference between the Uyghurs and the ethnic Chinese people has caused significant trouble for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), China’s ruling party since 1949. The ethnic tensions between the Chinese and the Uyghurs peaked in 2009, when Xinjiang was rocked by several massive protests centered around ethnic separatism, which resulted in a string of terror attacks committed by Uyghur extremists. This in turn led to the CCP using great amounts of force in order to put down the separatists.
Over the past four years, the Chinese government has been systematically putting over a million Uyghurs into “re-education camps,” according to The Associated Press. Despite the CCP claiming that the camps are entirely voluntary and humane, journalists have been able to obtain footage which prove otherwise. Human rights activists argue that torture is prevalent, and rape by the guards is often used as a tool against female inmates. They say inmates are forced to renounce Islam, eat pork, and drink alcohol, all the while singing the praises of Xi Jinping and the Communist party. Detainees are forced to learn Mandarin and are penalized for speaking Uyghur. In addition, the CCP is employing measures outside the detention centers, such as settling Han Chinese men in Uyghur homes, shutting down mosques, and conducting constant surveillance of Uyghurs. Critics say the goal is to eradicate the Uyghur cultural identity, as the CCP sees Uyghur identity as threatening to the unity of China, and more importantly, its access to Xinjiang’s vast coal and gas reserves. Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, who are also Turkic and Muslim, are being detained as well, and are forced to endure the same hardships and indoctrination.
The Uyghur situation has gained massive attention, but has caused little international action. China’s key position in the world economy has prevented the international community from taking any meaningful action. Any strong measures against China would result in a sizable hit to the world economy, something many countries would have a hard time handling. Almost all of the Islamic world, whose leaders often utilize the rhetoric of Muslim unity against the West, are nowhere to be seen, with the exception of two: Turkey and Kazakhstan. Turkey has enough physical and economic distance from China to be able to press them on the issue, as the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has done a few times on live TV. Kazakhstan has been able to save a small number of refugees, but otherwise, most of the Islamic world has its hands tied, as most of those countries are economically tied to China.