A new Chinese study on the ancient populations of Xinjiang purports to show modern-day residents descend from a mix of ethnicities, but scientists and experts on the region cautioned the findings are being used to support China’s forced assimilation policy toward the predominately Muslim Uyghurs. The study from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Members of the European Parliament on Thursday easily passed a resolution calling the Chinese government’s systemic human rights abuses against the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority “crimes against humanity and a serious risk of genocide.” The EU condemned “in the strongest possible terms that the Uyghurs have been systematically oppressed by brutal measures including mass deportation,
A Uyghur rights group on Saturday expressed “serious disappointment” in the outcome of U.N. Human Rights czar Michelle Bachelet’s trip to Xinjiang, which it said had amounted to “a propaganda opportunity for China to whitewash its crimes against humanity and genocide against the Uyghur people.” Ahead of the visit, rights groups demanded assurances that the
The U.N.’s human rights chief on Monday will begin a six-day official visit to China, including to the far-western Xinjiang region where widespread abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities at the hands of Chinese authorities are said to have occurred. The trip is the culmination of years of effort by exiled Uyghurs to draw
Classical performing artist Shohret Tursun said he realized early on that his native Uyghur culture was on the brink of obliteration in Xinjiang, as he watched in horror as fellow musicians and other Uyghur friends were detained or disappeared by Chinese authorities starting in 2017. From exile in Australia, Tursun did his best to counter
Hong Kong’s one-horse leadership poll, which selected former security chief John Lee — the only candidate — for the city’s top job at the weekend, has wiped out any distinction between the city and the rest of mainland China, commentators said on Monday. Lee, a former police officer who oversaw a violent crackdown on the 2019
Qedriye Ghopur, a young Uyghur fashion designer who lives in Norway, is trying to spread Uyghur culture through a fashion brand called Føniks (Phoenix) that features etles-style clothing and jewelry. Etles, a Central Asian fabric and design that is known in English as ikat, became popular globally about a decade ago, but not without criticism
Satellite images provided by PlanetLabs Inc. and analyzed by RFA show the rapid demolition of Kashgar Bazaar between April 4, 2022 (L) and May 4, 2022 (R). The travel guide Lonely Planet advises visitors to Kashgar, China, to fight the crowds that gather at its Sunday Grand Bazaar and let their senses loose to the
Authorities in Kashgar allegedly paid Muslim Uyghur men to dance outside the most famous mosque in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region to celebrate the end of Ramadan, a performance that was filmed and released by state media ahead of an anticipated visit by the United Nations human rights chief later this month. Kashgar locals told RFA
The 12-year old Uyghur girl, who now lives in the U.S. state of Virginia, was about seven years old and starting to absorb a bit more knowledge when she first learned about the repression of Uyghurs in their homeland northwestern China’s Xinjiang region. As she got older, her mother would tell her more and more
