Under President Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), hyper-nationalism has reached new heights.  Xi declared a “People’s War on Terror” in 2014. In 2017, the Chinese government began to intensify its campaign against the Uyghurs, and stress assimilation. In response to this concerning treatment, the United States and other governments have characterized China’s actions in Xinjiang as genocide, while the UN human rights office has said that the violations could constitute “crimes against humanity.”

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

 

The process of stripping the Uyghurs of any facets of their culture started in schools: the government eliminated Uyghur language, and instead replaced it with Chinese. Additionally, the Chinese government built several buildings that they claimed to be “vocational training centers,” but, in reality, were “prison camps.” Another method of cracking down that the government exercised was forced labor. Between 2017 and 2020, eighty thousand previously detained Uyghurs were sent to factories throughout China. The system is enforced by complicated technological surveillance that includes teachers, guards, relatives, and police. 

 

The modern Chinese state continues to depict ethnic minorities as illiterate, poverty-stricken and practitioners of “backward” traditions. They are called “barbarians” that need to be “civilized.” This is contrasted to the Han majority, who are seen as advanced and superior.  

​

The Uyghurs are being forced into a cultural assimilation that is reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution. Chinese authorities have placed as many over 1 million Uyghurs into ‘reeducation’ camps since 2017, making it the largest internment of a religious minority since World War II.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​