All Reading
This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.
Starting Points:
China: Hundreds of Uyghur Village Names Change
Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have been systematically changing hundreds of village names with religious, historical, or cultural meaning for Uyghurs into names reflecting recent Chinese Communist Party ideology.
Uyghur publisher jailed for books on Uyghur independence, identity
Believed detained for publishing books about Uyghur cultural identity, Erkin Emet was sentenced to prison in 2018; his whereabouts and the length of his sentence is unknown.
Holding out hope for a ‘spring’ free from China’s repression
While spring has arrived in parts of the world, many Uyghurs are still waiting for their spring to arrive, the main sentiment expressed in a new collection by writers with connections to Xinjiang.
In Istanbul, the last Uyghur bookshops struggle to survive
Caught between a vindictive Chinese state and Turkish police, Uyghur booksellers try to preserve their language and culture.
The Complicity of Heritage: Cultural Heritage and Genocide in the Uyghur Region
This report highlights how China’s actions constitute what UNESCO calls “strategic cultural cleansing”, through systematic destruction of cultural heritage and targeting people on the basis of their ethnic affiliation.
A Guide on East Turkistan Language, Uyghur Names and Geography
This report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) offers a guide to rendering the Uyghur language in Latin script, reporting Uyghur names, and using Uyghur versions of geographical locations.
Uyghur Artist Interview: ‘Our culture is disappearing now’
Marwayit Hapiz, a renowned Uyghur artist, speaks with RFA about her artwork, the direction it has taken in recent years amid the Chinese government’s repression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and her hopes for young Uyghur painters.
China is erasing their culture. In exile, Uyghurs remain defiant.
A growing Uyghur diaspora has found refuge—and a reconnection to their culture—in the neighborhoods of Istanbul.
Cultural Heritage and Mass Atrocities
Assembling dozens of experts from the heritage, social science, humanitarian, legal, and military communities, this open-access book features a series of essays on the global value of cultural heritage, recent examples of intentional cultural heritage destruction across the globe, and how it can be protected.
The Turkish school preserving culture of young Uighurs in exile
In Istanbul, children whose families face persecution in Xinjiang, China, attend a ‘Uighur School’ that strives to safeguard their cultural identity.
Uyghur Poems From a Chinese Prison
The acclaimed poet Gulnisa Imin is serving a 17-year sentence because her work supposedly promotes “separatism.” She’s still writing.
Uyghur voices in Istanbul
A Uyghur couple turns to music — inspired by the songs and poems of their culture — in response to the crisis in their homeland.
China razes Kashgar’s iconic Grand Bazaar
Analysis of satellite images shows dramatic changes in the market, including the removal of buildings and the roofs of stalls, between photos taken a month apart. According to one local official, a new tourist attraction will arise in its place.
Beyond Belief: Who Are The Uyghurs?
This discussion panel of experts from the region and those with lived experience explores the faith of the majority Muslim Uyghur people and what could be lost from their language, culture and heritage.
We Uyghurs Have No Say: An Imprisoned Writer Speaks
This book presents a collection of imprisoned Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti’s words on justice, the history of Xinjiang and the plight of China’s Muslim minorities.
Historic Uyghur culture is under existential threat
Shaped over centuries by pilgrimage, trade, art and war, a unique culture has been suppressed and exploited by Beijing. Can Uyghur distinctiveness re-emerge?
Genocidal processes: social death in Xinjiang
This paper builds on critical genocide studies literature to historically contextualize China’s “fusion” policy used to justify its policies of extralegal internment camps and inter-generational separation in Xinjiang.
Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang
(Originally published November 2006, revised February 2021) Eurasian Crossroads is an essential resource for anyone seeking to learn about the complex historical context of the genocide taking place in Xinjiang today. James Millward, who is widely regarded as the leading historian of Chinese Central Asia, provides an accessible-yet-thorough examination of the various peoples and empires that have called the region home.
The Spatial Cleansing of Xinjiang: Mazar Desecration in Context
Since March 2018, the Chinese state has destroyed and desecrated Uyghur historical and holy places at a scale unprecedented in the history of Eastern Turkistan (Xinjiang), among them the sacred mazars.
Good and Bad Muslims in Xinjiang
For those outside of China, a robust critique of China’s approach in Xinjiang must extend to the philosophical underpinnings that its policies continue to share with the domestic War on Terror in the West.