For 250 years, the Turkic Muslims of Altishahr the vast desert region to the northwest of Tibet have led an uneasy existence under Chinese rule. Today they call themselves Uyghurs, and they have cultivated a sense of history and identity that challenges Beijing’s official national narrative. Rian Thum argues that the roots of this history run deeper than recent conflicts, to a
Members of the Uyghur community and human rights activists protesting outside the UK Parliament. Photo: David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
In 2021 the governments of the United States, Canada and the Netherlands all independently stated China was committing genocide against Uyghur people in the region of Xinjiang. Last week, April 22, UK Parliament was the latest to accuse China of committing crimes against humanity and genocide in its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities.
Around 1 million Uyghurs and other minority groups are believed to have been illegally held and abused by authorities in internment re-education camps in Xinjiang, north-western China. Beijing denies these accusations and defends the measures as necessary to fight religious “extremism.”