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:
Ministry of Truth: Xinjiang Violence
The following censorship instructions, issued to the media by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to these instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.”
Behind Cry for Help From China Labor Camp
The cry for help, a neatly folded letter stuffed inside a package of Halloween decorations sold at Kmart, traveled 5,000 miles from China into the hands of a mother of two in Oregon. Scrawling in wobbly English on a sheet of onionskin paper, the writer said he was imprisoned at a labor camp in this northeastern Chinese town, where he said inmates toiled seven days a week, their 15-hour days haunted by sadistic guards.
Present-Day Ethnic Problems in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region: Overview and Recommendations
Written by now-imprisoned Uyghur economist Ilham Tohti, this article analyzes the underlying causes of ethnic tensions in Xinjiang, and offers recommendations for protecting the basic rights of Xinjiang’s citizens.
China’s Sufis: The Shrines Behind the Dunes
Lisa Ross’s photographs are not our usual images of Xinjiang. In 2008, 2009, and 2012, Xinjiang was the site of bloody protests. Instead of representing these political conflicts, however, Ross’s photographs are unassuming and quiet; people are never present and the objects she captures—stone on sand, cloth on stone, the skeleton of a dried animal—have an incandescent glow, as if lit by another sun. In fact, these images reveal a little-known religious tradition in Xinjiang—its desert shrines to Sufi saints. Taken in Xinjiang’s Taklamakan Desert, they are collected in Ross’s addictive new book, Living Shrines of Uyghur China, and are now on view at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York.
Living Shrines of Uyghur China
Lisa Ross’s ethereal photographs of Islamic holy sites were created over the course of a decade on journeys to China’s Xinjiang region in Central Asia, historically a cultural crossroads but an area to which artists and researchers have generally been denied access since its annexation in 1949. These monumental images show shrines created during pilgrimages, many of which have been maintained continuously over several centuries; visitation to the tombs of saints is a central aspect of daily life in Uyghur Islam. Many of the sites in Ross’s work are threatened by political and economic pressures—her images are valuable, therefore, not only for their intrinsic beauty, but as an important record of a rich and vibrant culture.
China's 'Re-Education Through Labor' System: The View From Within
An inside look at the country's notorious prison camps.
China surveillance targets crime – and dissent
Video surveillance is a multibillion-dollar industry in China, bankrolled by an authoritarian Communist Party that has overseen more spending on domestic security in recent years than national defense.
Charting the Course of Uyghur Unrest
This article argues that the locations and types of violent Uyghur unrest were influenced by a combination of Chinese government policies and the political geography of Xinjiang.
China blames 'criminals' for bus bomb
China yesterday blamed "criminal elements" for the home-made bomb which exploded on a bus in a central shopping district last Friday, which was claimed by exiled Uighur separatists.
Uyghur Leader Turns to Chinese People
Uyghur exile leader Rebiya Kadeer has appealed to the Chinese people to help Uyghurs in Xinjiang push for self-determination as Beijing launched a "strike hard" campaign in the wake of violent attacks in the region.
My Ideals and the Career Path I Have Chosen
This autobiographic essay by Ilham Tohti explains his personal ideas and his desire to devote himself to Xinjiang’s social, economic and cultural development and harmonious ethnic coexistence.
The People's Liberation Army and China's Internal Security Challenges
Trained and equipped for war, China’s soldiers have been deployed time and again to respond to internal security issues such as violent mass demonstrations, or “mass incidents,” and episodes of ethnic unrest.
Social Cohesion and Islamic Radicalization: Implications from the Uyghur Insurgency
This article explores the structural changes in the Uighur community over the past decades and the importance of social cohesion on national security and stability.
Enforced Disappearances in the Wake of Xinjiang’s Protests
This Human Rights Watch report documents the enforced “disappearances” of 43 Uighur men and teenage boys who were detained by Chinese security forces in the wake of the Urumqi protest.
Xinjiang Trials Deny Justice - Proceedings Failed Minimum Fair Trial Standards
The trials of 21 defendants accused of participating in the violent July 2009 protests in Urumqi did not meet minimum international standards of due process and fair trials, Human Rights Watch said today.
Old suspicions magnified mistrust into ethnic riots in Urumqi
On the night of 25 June, two Uighurs were killed by a Han mob. A week later, a Uighur protest on the streets of Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, turned into one of the worst race riots in China’s history.
Behind the Violence in Xinjiang
The eruption of ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, the most deadly recorded in decades, seems to have taken both Beijing and the world by surprise. It should not have.
Ethnic Clashes in China: Uighurs vs. Han Chinese
The Chinese government blanketed Urumqi, the capital of China's far western Xinjiang region, with 20,000 new security troops on Wednesday, as thousands of residents began to flee following the deadly ethnic clashes that erupted over the weekend. The unrest has become a major challenge for this country's Communist leaders. In a sign of their growing concern about the situation, President Hu Jintao canceled plans to attend the Group of Eight summit in Italy and rushed home early Wednesday.
Migration, Modernisation and Ethnic Estrangement: Uyghur Migration to Urumqi
This article explores how the modernisation project in Xinjiang is taking precedence over ethnic harmony, as the ethnic division of labour exacerbates tensions between Han and Uyghur people.
Community Matters in Xinjiang: 1880-1949
Based on a wide range of Western and local materials, this book offers an introduction to the historical anthropology of the Muslim Uyghur of Xinjiang from the late 19th century to 1949.