Background on Chinese Repression in Xinjiang

Xinjiang, located in northwestern China, is home to 11 million Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. The Chinese government has long imposed pervasive restrictions on the fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion, of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. These controls are often intrusive and personal, including, for example, restrictions on what name they may give their children.

Opposition to central and local government policies has been expressed in peaceful protests, but also through bombings and other acts of violence. Authorities seek to justify many repressive measures in the region as necessary to supporting the state’s fight against terrorism. However, the Xinjiang authorities have long conflated violent and nonviolent forms of political advocacy, and treat expressions of Uyghur identity, including language, culture, and religion, as well as aspirations for independence, as one of the “three [evil] forces” (三股势力) – “separatism, terrorism, and extremism.”

Since May 2014, the Chinese government has waged a “Strike Hard Campaign against violent activities and terrorism” (严厉打击暴力恐怖活动专项行动). Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, appointed in August 2016, seems to have intensified repressive practices under the campaign.

In the past year, Xinjiang authorities have expanded efforts at forced assimilation and at severing any foreign ties Muslim residents may have. These include: restricting foreign travel by recalling passports, forcing those living abroad to return, imprisoning those with foreign connections, strengthening the use of Mandarin language in education while deprioritizing minority languages, targeting minority officials suspected of disloyalty, and detaining indefinitely over tens of thousands in unlawful “political education” centers. Xinjiang authorities have also heightened surveillance efforts, including instituting mass collection of DNA and voice biometrics from individuals between ages 12 and 65, routinely inspecting smartphones for “subversive” content, creating numerous checkpoints on roads and train stations, hiring thousands of new security personnel, and building “convenient” police stations.

(hrw.org)