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 faces pressure at United Nations after Xinjiang report
As Beijing seeks to avoid further censure over its policies against the Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities, calls grow for tougher action.
UN head hopes China will ‘take on board’ Xinjiang recommendations
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hopes China will “take on board the recommendations” made in a report by the organisation’s Human Rights Office on the situation in its Xinjiang region, a spokesman said.
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.
UN’s Bachelet says China trip not for a probe, faces criticism
The UN human rights chief has defended her China trip as she was accused of failing to hold Beijing accountable for its alleged human rights abuses, saying she raised concerns with officials about the treatment of Uighur Muslims in the country.
Xinjiang in focus as UN’s Michelle Bachelet visits China
The UN human rights chief has met China’s top diplomat as she began a six-day trip to the country that will include the remote Xinjiang region. The tour by Michelle Bachelet marks the first by the UN’s top rights official to China in nearly two decades and comes as Beijing stands accused of widespread abuses of Muslims in far-western Xinjiang.
Amazon silenced criticism of Xi to do business in China: Report
Amazon’s efforts to curry favor with the Chinese government included quieting criticism of President Xi Jinping’s book on its Chinese outlet, according to a Reuters report.
Winter Olympics: IOC says China human rights ‘not within’ remit
A senior member of the International Olympic Committee has swatted aside suggestions that China should be challenged over its human rights record before the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.
In China’s Xinjiang, surveillance is all pervasive
There are few more difficult places for a foreign journalist to report from in China than Xinjiang. The surveillance is all pervasive. Streets bristle with CCTV cameras. In some cities, there are now police posts every 30 metres.
China’s Communist Party hardens rhetoric on Islam
China’s ruling Communist Party has hardened its rhetoric on Islam, with top officials making repeated warnings about the spectre of global religious “extremism” seeping into the country, and the need to protect traditional Chinese identity. Sharhat Ahan, a top party official in Xinjiang, on Sunday became the latest official from a predominantly Muslim region to warn political leaders gathered in Beijing that the “international anti-terror situation” is destabilising China.
In Pictures: The Uyghurs of Xinjiang
A de facto state of emergency has been put in place in Xinjiang and a heavy military presence could be seen in both the provincial capital of Urumqi and the Uyghur’s cultural capital of Kashgar located in the south of the province.