'It would have been totally fine if that US-China business guy tweeted about US-China business, but he had to take a swipe at the "echo chamber of negativity" on Twitter about China. Sorry not sorry but don't gaslight people who have a problem with a million Uighurs in camps.'
- Melissa Chan (
Source, September 27, 2019)
'Significant statement by @USAsiaPacific Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell, speaking at the U.S. UN mission alongside Uyghur Human Rights Project Board Chair @nuryturkel. This strong focus on the crisis gives hope to Uyghurs. @uyghurproject'
- Omer Kanat (
Source, September 27, 2019)
'..As we heard today, China harasses citizens of other countries, including American citizens..''..China’s campaign of repression extends far beyond the walls of these camps. Ubiquitous security personnel and massive, high-tech surveillance systems have turned Xinjiang into a police state. Uighur families are forced to allow Chinese officials to stay in their homes in an effort to prevent observance of Islamic practices and strengthen controls on cultural and religious expression. Parents are forbidden from teaching Islam to their children. Students are punished for praying or fasting during Ramadan. Men’s beards are forcibly shaved, women’s hijabs are removed, numerous mosques have been destroyed. We have heard credible reports that Muslims are forced to eat pork and drink alcohol or face punishment.
The Chinese Government claims these policies are meant to tackle what it calls “religious extremism.” In fact, these repressive policies are likely to fuel the very resentment, recruitment, and radicalization to violence that Beijing claims to oppose. Nor does this campaign end at China’s borders. Chinese officials coerce Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities to return to Xinjiang from abroad and pressure third countries to forcibly return asylum seekers to China. As we heard today, China harasses citizens of other countries, including American citizens, with relatives in Xinjiang, presenting them with heartbreaking choice: keep silent about the horrific abuses or let your friends and family in Xinjiang suffer the consequences.
It is important to note much of what we know about the crisis in Xinjiang does not originate from U.S. Government reporting. Just late last week we saw very alarming video footage on social media showing what appeared to be mass detentions in Xinjiang. It is clearly – certainly very disturbing footage that raises troubling questions. We know what we know thanks to the testimonies of survivors and their family members. It is from news outlets around the world – Al Jazeera, UAE’s The National, as well as Nikkei Asian Review, BBC Financial Times. Many of you are familiar with the great work done by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Radio Free Asia. It is from think tanks like the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
This is far from an exhaustive list. Many other academics and human rights groups have documented these stories, shining light on the modern-day horrors and debunking Chinese state propaganda. Here at the UN, we reaffirm the principle that a government’s purpose is to protect the unalienable rights of its people. We iterate – reiterate our call for China to end its counterproductive policies that repress its own people.'
- United States Department of State,
The Human Rights Crisis in Xinjiang, September 24, 2019
Context'..We have a revanchist Russia .. And we have a China, which is still Leninist..'Christian Shepherd on Xinjiang and China’s changing ethnic policy, September 26, 2019