What is uighur chinese

Because of its location along the ancient Silk Road , Xinjiang has a long history of cross-migration by different minority groups. It is rich in oil and natural gas and boasts a natural beauty that has attracted international filmmakers. In , an independent East Turkestan was briefly declared by the then-majority Uighurs, but its borders were unsettled and its army was soon defeated by nationalist Chinese led by Chiang Kai-shek.

A second East Turkestan republic was declared in with Soviet backing. Uighurs disagree, saying that borders in the region have been drawn and redrawn for centuries, depending on the dominant power, including the Mongols and the Turkic Karakhanid.

Overseas Uighurs also say that their religion, language and cultural practices clearly distinguish Xinjiang from the rest of China.

China has allegedly forced abortions and sterilization on women. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups eventually escaped to neighbouring Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Others fled to Afghanistan and Turkey. Following renewed political tensions in recent years, thousands of refugees escaped to Europe, while more than 1, eventually made it across the Atlantic to the United States. The Uighur population in the US have since increased to at least 9, in There has also been a marked rise of Islamophobia across China. Some Uyghurs have been employed by the state to spy on other Uyghurs , reporting any suspicious or illegal behaviour.

This includes if someone has given up smoking, refuses to drink alcohol or even if a Uyghur refuses to watch Chinese news broadcasts. The education involves daily indoctrination into Communist ideology and attempts at eradicating minority culture, language and religion. Read more: Patriotic songs and self-criticism: why China is 're-educating' Muslims in mass detention camps.

Recent reports have identified more than Uyghur intellectuals including writers, poets, journalists and university professors are now among those detained. The persecution of intellectuals, who speak out against oppression, and continue traditional practice, occurs even if they are moderate in their views and working towards reconciliation.

In , Beijing arrested Ilham Tohti, an economics professor who rejected separatism and promoted reconciliation in Xinjiang. He is currently serving a life sentence after being falsely accused of being a separatist. In October , Germany issued a joint statement on behalf of 39 U.

A group of Uighur activists lodged a complaint against China at the International Criminal Court last year, but in December the court declined to prosecute; China like the U. The plaintiffs had hoped to build a case on alleged crimes against Uighurs living in the ICC member states of Tajikistan and Cambodia.

The court said it would keep the file open and could pursue a case pending more evidence. In April , Human Rights Watch issued an extensive report on the situation in Xinjiang, making the case that China was committing crimes against humanity.

On his last day in office in January, former secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that, in his determination, China was committing genocide and crimes against humanity. New Zealand is especially vulnerable to the threat of trade retaliation from China, but other governments are being cautious too.

As it happens, the U. The Biden administration issued additional sanctions on Chinese officials in March in a coordinated effort with the U. There are other things the administration could do, such as prioritizing Uighurs for asylum and resettlement in the U.

The State Department has warned that companies with even indirect investments or supply-chain connections in Xinjiang are at high risk for violating U. This legal risk, along with rising consumer awareness, is putting pressure on major apparel brands to eliminate Xinjiang cotton from their supply chains. This is no easy task, as China produces 20 percent of the global cotton supply, and 85 percent of that is grown in Xinjiang, including some of the highest-quality cotton in the world.

The campaign by Customs and Border Protection to crack down on imports made with forced labor is beginning to have an impact, but its enforcement capabilities remain limited, and plenty of other countries are still buying Xinjiang cotton — though the E.

It would be the biggest boost of federal aid to Amtrak since Congress created it half a century ago. Flynn said in an interview Monday. Already a subscriber? Log in or link your magazine subscription. Account Profile. Sign Out. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Graphic: Intelligencer. A Uighur woman in Xinjiang arranges her stall in September , while the billboard behind her shows the late Communist Party leader Mao Zedong.

Locations of suspected detention facilities. In , leaked documents emerged that contradicted Chinese government claims that the detention camps were voluntary job training centres. The classified papers appeared to confirm what former detainees had been saying, that the camps were centres for forced ideological and behavioural re-education, or brainwashing.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player. The Chinese government has been accused of forcing Uyghur women and member of other minorities to take part in birth control as part of a campaign to curb its Muslim population. Footage has emerged over the last few years purporting to show hundreds of blindfolded and shackled prisoners - who were thought to be from the Uyghur population - being marched by guards in the Xinjiang city of Korla.

Sky News has also found evidence of children of exiled Uyghurs going missing in Xinjiang. As the home of a significant proportion of the Silk Road, it has long been used as a thoroughfare along which goods from China have travelled. Some, possibly most, Uyghurs do not accept that Xinjiang is part of China, citing the evidence that Uyghur people lived in the area before Chinese Han and Tang dynasties set up protectorates.

Xinjiang, as it is now, came under Chinese Qing dynasty rule in the 18th century, but there have been many times in its history when it was not under Chinese control. In modern times, China has been increasing the number of non-Uyghurs in Xinjiang, so the proportion of Uyghurs in the region is declining.