[China] sees the Uighur population outgrowth as a danger to itself\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009and the diaspora has always been a lot stronger in Central AsiaAbigail Grace, research associate at the Center for New American Security<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
As China strengthens its security in Xinjiang, its attention has turned to the Uighur diaspora, estimated at 1m-1.6m. \u201c[China] sees the Uighur population outgrowth as a danger to itself . . . and the diaspora has always been a lot stronger in Central Asia,\u201d said Abigail Grace, a research associate at the Center for New American Security, a Washington think-tank.<\/p>\n
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation \u2014 a multilateral body based in Beijing comprising Russia, India, Pakistan and the Central Asian republics \u2014 has been instrumental in the effort to control the Uighur population, according to Ms Grace. Since it was set up in 2001, the SCO has enforced counter-terrorism initiatives, \u201cspecifically China\u2019s brand of counter-terrorism\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat undergirded the organisation\u2019s relationship was a fixation on China seeking opportunities to ensure that Central Asia states were enlisted in its own goals in controlling Uighur activity,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The SCO\u2019s first convention in 2001 closely mirrors China\u2019s \u201c three evils\u201d security doctrine for Xinjiang: combating extremism, terrorism and separatism. Additions to the anti-terror convention passed by the SCO in 2009 allowed suspects to be transferred between SCO member states and for members to send their agents to other SCO states to conduct investigations.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople believe Chinese police in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are arresting Uighur people because many disappeared suddenly and no one knows their whereabouts,\u201d said Abdurahman Hasan, a businessman who left China for Saudi Arabia in 2013.<\/p>\n
After being sent a photograph of his friend \u2014 a Uighur businessman who vanished from Bishkek\u2019s Madina bazaar only to resurface at an internment centre \u2014 Mr Hasan is now afraid to go out alone in Turkey, where he now lives. \u201cBecause he is very rich and helps the poor, he had influence in Kyrgyzstan and [China] was afraid he would organise or help Uighur human rights activists in Central Asia,\u201d said Mr Hasan, referring to his friend.<\/p>\n
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Police officers check the identity cards of a people as security forces keep watch on a street in Kashgar, Xinjiang \u00a9 Reuters<\/p>\n
The Madina bazaar, the largest in Kyrgyzstan\u2019s capital, once boasted thousands of Uighur businesses that imported cheap Chinese-made goods. \u201cOver the last three years, many shops closed. Every time I went to the city bazaar, the conversation was about the many instances of arrests and deportations,\u201d said Mehmet, the businessman.<\/p>\n
The foreign ministry in Bishkek did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, those fleeing China have found there is a dwindling number of destinations out of Beijing\u2019s reach. \u201cSince the crackdown began intensifying, the relationship between Turkey and China is getting warmer. Uighurs here feel increasingly unsafe,\u201d said Tursun, who fled to Turkey in 2016, and who declined to give his real name.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Chinese security officials managed to find Tursun\u2019s personal phone number, calling him twice last year to persuade him to return to China.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn veiled threats, [the officer] said we can monitor you 24 hours a day, so do not think that you can get away with illegal activities in Turkey,\u201d he said. Rattled by the disappearance of a childhood friend in Bishkek last May and by the calls, he said he wanted to leave Turkey.<\/p>\n
Such spying is not limited to Uighurs. In April, Sweden arrested a Chinese Tibetan man for allegedly spying on other Tibetans living in Sweden. But Uighurs said such spying was rampant in their circles given the mix of coercion and threats Chinese security officials used on family members who remained in China.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese efforts to get you to spy for them is commonplace,\u201d said Alip, a Uighur academic who once studied in Malaysia who declined to give his full name. In 2011, he was offered \u201ca very tall stack\u201d of renminbi after being detained for a week of questioning, in exchange for spying on fellow students in Malaysia. He refused. \u201cState security officials usually try to be very polite, with gifts. But sometimes subtle threats are involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry Foy contributed additional reporting from Moscow <\/em><\/p>\n