Human Rights Report in Xinjiang

China has been widely criticized for its record on violating the human rights of the Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang. In August 2018, the United Nations estimated that nearly one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities were assembled in internment camps for “political indoctrination” purposes [1]. These people are forced to receive “political re-education” to develop their loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and some of them suffer from maltreatment. In May 2014, the Chinese government launched the “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism” in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region against the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, and reports demonstrate that China has been continuously committing crimes against humanity on the Muslim population in Xinjiang [2] By depriving Uyghur people’s basic human rights and the right to liberty, China’s measures have violated international law. As a result many countries compelled China to acknowledge its records on human rights violation. However, the Chinese authorities are denying its arbitrary detention and political indoctrination of Uyghurs, claiming that their measures are part of the broader “de-extremification efforts” to eradicate terrorist activities in Xinjiang while providing the Uyghur population with legal knowledge, vocational skills, and Chinese language ability [3]. What’s more, Chinese scholars and officials believe that these measures have generated positive effects, ensuring Xinjiang’s safety from violent incidents for nearly two years, while bringing enduring peace and stability to the region [4]. While many Western countries are denouncing China’s abuses on Uyghur people’s human rights, other countries, such as Belarus and Cuba, commend the Chinese government’s achievements in the Xinjiang province.

The Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has regulated that “crimes against humanity are serious specified offenses that are knowingly committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against any civilian population,” and such crimes are considered amongst the gravest human rights abuses subject to the international law [5]. In recent years, China’s oppression on Turkic Muslims has reached an unprecedented level. According to Human Rights Watch, a million people have been coercively detained in 300 to 400 facilities, including “political education” camps, pre-trial detention centers, and prisons, while many of the detainees suffer from harsh treatments, cultural and political indoctrination, and forced labor [6]. In 2017, official statistics demonstrated that arrests in Xinjiang alone accounted for almost 21 percent of all arrests in China, despite the fact that people in Xinjiang makes up merely 1.5 percent of the entire population [7]. China’s internally defective and oppressive policy on managing the Xinjiang region have generated widespread criticisms from the international community. Resistances from Uyghur activists against the re-education campaign have been popular in many countries, and Uyghur social media users have utilized online platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to launch on releasing Uyghur detainees and to enhance social solidarity in response to China’s state repression on Uyghur people’s human rights. In July and November 2019, a group of governments delivered a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council, urging effective measures from UN in monitoring and reporting alleged abuses against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, but were rejected by China who coordinated letters signed by 50 countries. In 2020, 60 countries again urged the UN in an open letter to create an independent international mechanism towards addressing China’s violations of human rights in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and Tibet. “This global coalition of organizations, 50 UN experts, and dozens of governments are demanding an end to China’s impunity at the UN Human Rights Council,” and the “UN needs to act on the growing chorus of voices calling for China to be held accountable for its rights abuses,” said John Fisher, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch [8]. Holding advantage of its rising political and economic influence and rising role in the UN, China has continued to seek ways to challenge the established human rights mechanism. Again, in 2021, China was criticized for forcing more than half a million Uyghur people into picking cotton, which makes human rights situation of Uyghur population even worse [9]. Data has suggested that Xinjiang alone produces more than 20 percent of the world’s cotton and 84 percent of China’s cotton production, while it is very much likely that this high production amount is “tainted” by human rights abuses, including the use of forced labors [10]. In response, the United States and some other countries imposed sanctions and restrictions on cotton imports from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), out of human rights concerns.

While dozens of countries, primarily Western countries, are criticizing China’s violation of Uyghur people’s and Turkic ethnic minorities’ human rights, the Chinese domestic sphere came up with an entirely different explanation. According to the Xinhua news, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has witnessed dramatic economic and social progresses ever since its establishment. The Chinese government’s strong anti-terrorism and de-extremification measures have successfully eliminated the threats which endanger people’s safety, and at the same time, attained new achievements on promoting employment, education, medical care, and social welfare of Uyghur people [11]. Statistics display that over the last three years, the per capita income of Xinjiang has grown at an average annual rate of over 8 percent, surpassing the average growth rate of other provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China. Xinjiang’s poverty rate has dropped from 22 percent to 6.5 percent, realizing the goal of comprehensive poverty alleviation by 2021 [12]. Meanwhile, the Chinese government also fully guaranteed religious freedom in Xinjiang by building over 24,000 mosques, meaning there are one mosque for 530 Muslims on average, which is higher than many other Muslim countries [13]. Wang Wenbin, the spokesman of Foreign Ministry, declared in a regular press conference that Xinjiang at the moment enjoys sustained economic development, social stability, continued improved living standard, unprecedented cultural prosperity, and religious harmony. According to him, the so-called Xinjiang issue is not about human rights, ethnicity or religion, but an issue of combating violence and terrorism activities. The government of the Uyghur Autonomous Region is actively controlling the sources of violence while promoting de-extreminifation and has achieved remarkable results on eliminating terrorist attacks in recent three years, further maximizing Uyghur people’s security and protecting their rights [14]. Moreover, Wang reaffirmed that all rights and freedom of Uyghur people are safeguarded during their reeducation process.

China’s policy in Xinjiang has also won supports from many countries, despite huge criticisms from elsewhere. At the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held in Geneva, Belarus, on behalf of 46 countries, delivered a joint speech, praising China’s achievements on the development of human rights in Xinjiang as well as its achievements on combating terrorism [15]. Belarus openly appreciated China’s openness and transparency for allowing over 1000 diplomats, officials from international organizations, journalists, and religious figures to visit Xinjiang. They have witnessed in their own eyes the great achievements Xinjiang has made, thereby Belarus urged the international practice of using rumors to make false accusations against China. On March 12, 2021, during the 46th session of the UNHRC, Cuba made a joint statement on behalf of 64 countries, commending the Chinese government for adhering to the people-centered concept and promoting the China’s human rights cause [16]. The Cuban representative urged relevant parties to abide by the principles of the UN Charter and to stop using Xinjiang-related issues to interfere with China’s internal affairs out of political purposes.

Professor Soliev, who works as a senior analyst at the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, argues that the long run effects of China’s policy on Uyghur have not yet been vindicated. From the theoretical perspective, China’s attempts on involuntary methods and direct interventions to influence religious-cultural and political expressions of its ethnic minorities are unlikely to yield positive effects, but an eventual escalation of ethnic tensions in Xinjiang [17]. It is possible that the restrictive security measures of the Chinese government will prompt an increased outflow of undocumented Uyghur asylum-seekers into China’s neighboring countries, such as Turkey and Central Asia. Recent cases have suggested that a small number of Uyghurs haven been illegally migrated to Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan seeking for asylum [18]. Large-scale migration of Uyghur people could be detrimental as militant groups such as the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) could view them as potential recruitment targets for terrorism purposes, which had already happened in the past when members of Uyghur diaspora were recruited by militant groups in Turkey and Kyrgyzstan to fight in Syria [19]. Therefore, professor Soliev appeals that the Chinese government ought to be aware of the different between ethnic riots and terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, and to treat the grievances of the Uyghur people sensitively in order to quell down ethnic disputes and supports for terrorism.

An ongoing debate still exists within the international community towards China’s human rights violation in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and a final answer requires further investigations from the UN and other human rights organizations. Yet, it is undeniable that these reeducation camps do exist, and the Chinese government still needs to pay attention to the feelings and needs of Uyghur people in case of potential escalation of ethnic dispute issue in Xinjiang.

Bibliography

[1] Nodirbek Soliev, “Uyghur Violence and Jihadism in China and Beyond,” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses 11, no. 1 (January 2019): 71, accessed April 29, 2021, https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/26568580. [2] Thomas Peter, “Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots,” Human Rights Watch, April 19, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/19/break-their-lineage-break-their-roots/chinas-crimes-against-humanity-targeting. [3] Soliev, “Uyghur Violence and Jihadism in China and Beyond,” 72. [4] Ibid, 72. [5] Peter, “Break Their Lineage, Break Their Roots,” Human Rights Watch. [6] Ibid. [7] Ibid. [8] “Global Coalition urges UN to Address China’s Human Rights Abuses,” Human Rights Watch, September 9, 2020, https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/09/global-coalition-urges-un-address-chinas-human-rights-abuses. [9] Helen Davidson, “Xinjiang: more than half a million forced to pick cotton, report suggests,” The Guardian, December 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/xinjiang-china-more-than-half-a-million-forced-to-pick-cotton-report-finds. [10] Davidson, Xinjiang: more than half a million forced to pick cotton, report suggests,” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/xinjiang-china-more-than-half-a-million-forced-to-pick-cotton-report-finds. [11] Jie Li, “The People of Xinjiang Have the Best Say in Human Rights,” Xinhua News, June 20, 2020, https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1669976310180942047&wfr=spider&for=pc. [12] Jie Li, “The People of Xinjiang Have the Best Say in Human Rights,” Xinhua News. [13] Ibid. [14] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People’s Republic of China, “The so-called Xinjiang issue is not a human right, religious, or ethnic issue at all,” Economic Daily, August 5, 2020, https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1674188397931550610&wfr=spider&for=pc. [15] “More than 40 countries made a joint speech at the Human Rights Council in support of China’s position in Xinjiang,” China Youth Net, July 2, 2020, https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1671057920000377536&wfr=spider&for=pc. [16] Xinhua News, “The representative of China briefed the Chinese and foreign media on the joint statement of 64 countries in support of China’s Xinjiang-related issues in the Human Rights Council,” China Youth Net, March 13, 2021, http://news.youth.cn/jsxw/202103/t20210313_12767337.htm. [17] Soliev, “Uyghur Violence and Jihadism in China and Beyond,” 73. [18] Ibid, 75. [19] Ibid, 75.