China’s War on Uighurs

On the podcast: A Uighur journalist in exile tells her family’s story.

By , the executive editor for podcasts at Foreign Policy.
A guard watchtower rises above a perimeter fence of what is officially known as a "vocational skills education center" for Uighur Muslims in Dabancheng in Xinjiang, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
A guard watchtower rises above a perimeter fence of what is officially known as a "vocational skills education center" for Uighur Muslims in Dabancheng in Xinjiang, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)
A guard watchtower rises above a perimeter fence of what is officially known as a "vocational skills education center" for Uighur Muslims in Dabancheng in Xinjiang, China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

In China's semi-autonomous region of Xinjiang, authorities have locked up an estimated 1 million Uighur Muslims in internment camps. They have demolished mosques, banned the Uighur language from schools, and even used DNA to monitor the population. China says the crackdown is in response to the separatist movement in Xinjiang, but the Uighurs call it cultural genocide.

In China’s semi-autonomous region of Xinjiang, authorities have locked up an estimated 1 million Uighur Muslims in internment camps. They have demolished mosques, banned the Uighur language from schools, and even used DNA to monitor the population. China says the crackdown is in response to the separatist movement in Xinjiang, but the Uighurs call it cultural genocide.

On the podcast this week, we talk to Zulhumar Isaac, a Uighur journalist living in exile in Sweden, cut off from her family and friends at home.

 

Tag: China

More from Foreign Policy

A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.
A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.

No, the World Is Not Multipolar

The idea of emerging power centers is popular but wrong—and could lead to serious policy mistakes.

A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.
A view from the cockpit shows backlit control panels and two pilots inside a KC-130J aerial refueler en route from Williamtown to Darwin as the sun sets on the horizon.

America Prepares for a Pacific War With China It Doesn’t Want

Embedded with U.S. forces in the Pacific, I saw the dilemmas of deterrence firsthand.

The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.
The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.

America Can’t Stop China’s Rise

And it should stop trying.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.

The Morality of Ukraine’s War Is Very Murky

The ethical calculations are less clear than you might think.