Other Collective Magazine - Winter 2019

STATE
SPONSORED
ISLAMOPHOBIA
IN CHINA
THE DETAINMENT AND ABUSE OF OVER ONE MILLION UIGHUR MUSLIMS
Over 1 million Uighur Muslims have been
detained in Chinese internment camps. They have
been subjected to torture, indoctrination, and
surveillance in such centers. Estimates suggest
another two million Muslims have endured some
form of “coercive re-education or indoctrination.”
There are at least 1000 camps; tear-gas, armed
guards, and waterboarding are common tactics.
These camps are just one facet of the Chinese
government’s systematic oppression of the Uighur
people. In recent years, Beijing has released a “list of
forbidden names.” This list includes a large number
of Islamic names, as they’ve been deemed “extremist.”
Communication between Uighurs and relatives
abroad has been cut—those who attempt to
contact family outside of the country are punished.
Citizens must watch state-sponsored television, and
children are required to attend government schools.
Police have confiscated phones and passports. In
Karamay, Xinjiang, those donning “long beards,
headscarves, veils and clothing with an Islamic crescent
moon and star,” were banned from using public
buses while the city hosted a sports event. A local
government campaign,“Project Beauty,” targeted
Uighur women. Project Beauty encouraged them
to remove their headscarves, so they could let
their “beautiful hair fly in the wind” and show their
“pretty faces.”
The Uighur, a religious and ethnic minority
in China, have a long history of resistance against
central Chinese rule. They primarily live in Xinjiang,
an autonomous region in the West of China. It
was not until the 19th century that this region was
brought under Chinese rule, and its relationship
with Beijing has been turbulent since. The Turkish
speaking Uighurs comprise almost half of Xinjiang's
population, which is home to a wide array of ethnic
minorities. Following a temporary declaration
of independence in 1993, there were a series of
deadly protests in 2009 in response to the murder
of two Uighurs. 2014 show a peak in anti-government
resistance, after which, Beijing began to
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