Uighur

Uighur

Subject: International relations

Context: China has launched an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse for its handling of Uighurs.

Concept:

• The Uighurs are Muslim ethnic community which speak a language close to Turkish, and are culturally and ethnically closer to Central Asia than the rest of China live in Xinjiang, the largest and most western of China’s administrative regions.
• Till recently, they were the majority in Xinjiang, but massive registered and unregistered settlements of Han Chinese and heavy troop deployments have likely changed that situation.
• Besides ethnicity and cultural dissonance, tensions are seen as rooted also in economic factors — as China’s development has lifted cities like Kashgar and Urumqi, young, qualified Han Chinese from eastern regions have come to Xinjiang, taking the most lucrative jobs and triggering resentment among the indigenous population.
• In Beijing’s official narrative, much of the Uighur terrorist violence is carried out by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, a group that seeks to establish an independent East Turkestan state in China.
• China has been criticized at different forums for violation of Human rights of Uighur population.