{"id":4610,"date":"2018-11-27T19:47:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T19:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2018\/11\/27\/global-coalition-scholars-calls-added-pressure-china-over-uygur-internment-camps-xinjiang\/"},"modified":"2018-11-27T19:47:37","modified_gmt":"2018-11-27T19:47:37","slug":"global-coalition-scholars-calls-added-pressure-china-over-uygur-internment-camps-xinjiang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/global-coalition-scholars-calls-added-pressure-china-over-uygur-internment-camps-xinjiang\/","title":{"rendered":"Global coalition of scholars calls for added pressure on China over Uygur internment camps in Xinjiang"},"content":{"rendered":"

A global coalition of nearly 300 scholars on Monday called on Beijing to abolish its \u201ctransformation through education\u201d campaign against China\u2019s ethnic Uygur <\/span>population,<\/span> and appealed for increased diplomatic and legislative pressure on the Chinese government over the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

statement<\/a> delivered on behalf of 278 academics from 26 countries, the group of self-titled \u201cconcerned scholars\u201d said immediate action was needed \u201cto prevent setting negative future precedents regarding the acceptability of any state\u2019s complete repression of a segment of its population, especially on the basis of ethnicity or religion.\u201d” data-reactid=”32″ style=”margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;” type=”text”>In a statement<\/a> delivered on behalf of 278 academics from 26 countries, the group of self-titled \u201cconcerned scholars\u201d said immediate action was needed \u201cto prevent setting negative future precedents regarding the acceptability of any state\u2019s complete repression of a segment of its population, especially on the basis of ethnicity or religion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch: Xinjiang explained<\/strong>&nbsp;” data-reactid=”33″ style=”margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;” type=”text”>Watch: Xinjiang explained<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Up to 1 million ethnic Uygurs, Kazakhs and members of other largely Muslim ethnic groups are reported to be detained in extrajudicial internment camps in northwestern China\u2019s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a crackdown that began in early 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

After scrutiny by the United Nations and other international bodies, official statements from Chinese authorities have recently shifted from denial to justification, arguing that re-education is needed to combat the spread of extremist religious ideology and terrorism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking out: Uygurs in US break silence on China\u2019s crackdown<\/a>” data-reactid=”36″ style=”margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;” type=”text”>Speaking out: Uygurs in US break silence on China\u2019s crackdown<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The scholars\u2019 call for action \u2013 which also included an appeal for countries engaged in China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative to make their involvement in the infrastructural development programme contingent on the abolition of mass internment camps \u2014 comes amid mounting evidence that Beijing is expanding its security crackdown in Xinjiang.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference convened at the National Press Club in Washington, Sean Roberts, director of George Washington University\u2019s International Development Studies Program, said: \u201cWe felt it critical for the scholarly community to also take a stance on this issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Members of the coalition came from a variety of fields, including China studies, Central Asian studies <\/span>and<\/span> Islamic studies, said Roberts, an associate professor of international affairs.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Referring to the Chinese president and to Chen Quanguo, the new Communist Party chief in Xinjiang, the scholars\u2019 statement said: \u201cWe call on states and institutions to issue formal statements demanding that Xi Jinping and Chen Quanguo immediately abolish the \u2018transformation through education\u2019 detention system and release all Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz<\/span><\/p>\n

and<\/span> other detainees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The petition also included demands on governments around the world to levy economic sanctions on Chinese officials and firms \u2013 both Chinese and foreign \u2013 that are engaged in the provision of technology being used in the execution of the government\u2019s security policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Such action is already under consideration by the US Congress, after the introduction of bipartisan legislation this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2018<\/a>, would commit the US government to pursuing economic sanctions against a number of Chinese officials, including Chen, who is widely considered to be the driving force behind the crackdown on the region\u2019s Uygur, Kazakh and other largely Muslim ethnic groups.” data-reactid=”75″ style=”margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;” type=”text”>The bill, the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2018<\/a>, would commit the US government to <\/span>pursuing<\/span> economic sanctions against a number of Chinese officials, including Chen, who is widely considered to be the driving force behind the crackdown on the region\u2019s Uygur, Kazakh <\/span>and<\/span> other largely Muslim ethnic groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

China could face US punishment over Xinjiang Uygur camps under new bill<\/a>” data-reactid=”76″ style=”margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;” type=”text”>China could face US punishment over Xinjiang Uygur camps under <\/a><\/span>new<\/span><\/a> bill<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

That legislation was welcomed by Mihrigul Tursun, a Uygur woman invited to speak at Monday\u2019s press conference to share her experience of being held at a mass internment camp.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking through a translator, Tursun, 29, recounted her ordeal of a three-month detention this year, during which she said she was beaten and tortured, forced to sing songs in Mandarin professing loyalty to the Chinese president and kept in a cell with more than 60 other women, nine of whom she said died during the time she was interned. She said she was released in April after being made to sign a statement vowing that she would \u201cnever do anything to harm China\u201d and that the police never interrogated or tortured her.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Owen Churchill, US correspondent<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

South China Morning Post<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A global coalition of nearly 300 scholars on Monday called on Beijing to abolish its \u201ctransformation through education\u201d campaign against China\u2019s ethnic Uygur population, and appealed for increased diplomatic and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-4610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4610"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=4610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}