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:
Uyghur Language and Culture Under Threat in Xinjiang
The Uyghur language has been the main language of instruction in many schools in Xinjiang alongside Chinese which has increasingly become predominant. Uyghur and Chinese are not related in any way and Uyghurs have to learn Chinese as a foreign language. In the region's main university, Xinjiang University, Uyghur and Chinese were both used as languages of instruction until a government decision in May 2002 decreed that the vast majority of courses would be taught only in Chinese.
China's War on Terror: September 11 and Uyghur Separatism
In the wake of September 11, China has launched its own "war on terror" against Uighur separatists in Xinjiang. But Beijing is employing the wrong strategy; the way to improve the situation is by addressing the Uighurs' legitimate grievances.
Chinese Authorities Burn Thousands of Uyghur Books
Chinese authorities in the northwestern province of Xinjiang have burned tens of thousands of books as part of an effort to curb separatism among ethnic Uyghurs, Radio Free Asia Uyghur service reported.
China’s anti-terrorism legislation and repression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region
This report describes the new anti-terrorism provisions in Chinese law and Amnesty International’s concerns about these provisions and the crackdown against “terrorist, separatist and illegal religious activities” currently underway in the XUAR.
Religious minorities and China
The treatment of religious minorities lies behind many of the headlines from China in recent years. China’s treatment of the Falungong and its policies in Tibet receive regular comment in the West, but rarely is this commentary informed by an understanding of how China’s policies towards religious minorities as a whole have developed. This report fills that gap and provides an authoritative overview of the major world religions in a country that is as diverse as it is vast.
Gross violations of human rights in the Xinjiang Uighur autonomous region (includes erratum)
This report describes a pattern of gross violations of human rights in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang. These violations include arbitrary detention and imprisonment, unfair political trials, torture, and arbitrary and summary executions. The main victims of these violations are the Uighurs, the majority ethnic group among the predominently Muslim local population in the region.
Reeducation Through Labor in China
This summary by Human Rights Watch is a comprehensive description of China’s system of reform through compulsory education and its problems, including its use to incarcerate political and religious dissidents.
Annual Report of the UN Committee against Torture
The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is the body of 10 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its State parties. See pages 63-70 for their responses to China's submission in 1996.
UN Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations and Recommendations to China
The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is the body of 10 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its State parties. See pages 63-70 for their responses to China's submission in 1993.
Islam in China: An update
This article updates the situation of Muslims in China following the publication of results from the 1982 census. According to the census, there are nearly 15 million Muslims in the People's Republic of China.
Religious policy in China and its implementation in the light of document no. 19
The key to understanding CCP religious policy is a clear understanding of CCP "united front" work, as well as Document 19, an internal CCP document that provides the ideological foundation for current CCP religious policy as well as detailed instructions for its implementation.