Guardian

China using influencers to whitewash human rights abuses, report finds

According to a new report from Human Rights Watch and Norway-based Uyghur Hjelp, China has renamed hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns, removing religious, historical, and cultural references as part of a crackdown.

A new report from Human Rights Watch and Norway-based Uyghur Hjelp says China has renamed hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns, removing religious, historical, and cultural references as part of a crackdown.

The researchers uncovered this finding through the process of extracting data from China's National Bureau of Statistics website. They found that Beijing began stamping out Uyghur names in 2009 and onward for those that reflect government propaganda.

Al Jazeera

The researchers uncovered this finding by extracting data from China's National Bureau of Statistics website. They found that Beijing in 2009 began swapping out Uyghur names for ones that reflect the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.

Uyghurs are Turkic Muslims. They have long had a tense relationship with Beijing, which accuses many of wanting independence. Elaine Pearson, HRW Asia Director, says this is part of China's Islam-terrorism conflation.

Firstpost

Uyghurs are Turkic Muslims. They have long had a tense relationship with Beijing, which accuses many Uyghurs of wanting independence. Elaine Pearson, HRW Asia Director, says this is part of China's Islam-terrorism conflation.

Uyghurs are Turkic Muslims who have long had a tense relationship with Beijing, which accuses many of wanting independence.

About 11M Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities live in Xinjiang, a vast region bordering Kazakhstan. Mass detentions, political indoctrination, family separations, and forced labor were allegedly part of China's 2017 assimilation campaign.

Approximately 11M Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities live in Xinjiang, a vast region bordering Kazakhstan. Mass detentions, political indoctrination, family separations, and forced labor were allegedly part of China's 2017 assimilation campaign.

Renaming places first began in Tibet. Beijing started referring to Tibet as "Xizang" in official documents in 2023. Tibet and Xinjiang are increasingly militarized which makes information of human rights violations difficult to reach the West.

Since 2014, China has allegedly detained millions of Uyghur and Turkic Muslims in re-education camps and jails, criminalizing religious acts like growing beards and Qur'an readings. NGOs have documented mass labor transfers, social re-education, torture, disappearances, and reproductive control.

Since 2014, China has allegedly detained millions of Uyghur and Turkic Muslims in re-education camps and jails, criminalizing religious acts like growing beards and Qur'an readings. NGO's have documented mass labor transfers, social re-education, torture, disappearances, and reproductive control.

Renaming places first began when Beijing started referring to Tibet as "Xizang" in official documents in 2023. Tibet and Xinjiang are increasingly militarized, which makes information of human rights violations difficult for the West to uncover.

Guardian #6294

Guardian #5026

Al Jazeera #3937

Firstpost #

The renaming of Uyghur cities and villages in Xinjiang is Beijing's latest attempt to eradicate Uyghur religious, historical, and cultural references. This has been going on since 2014, when the Chinese government launched its campaign against the Uyghur minority in Xinjian. Reports of unlawful systematic detention, torture, forced labor, mass surveillance, sexual assault, and even genocide against the Uyghur minority followed. All major crimes against humanity. The international community should step up ef

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch #

China: Hundreds of Uyghur Village Names Change

Nations with an anti-China agenda have consistently concocted misinformation about what is really going on in Xinjiang. The PRC's policies are not about human rights or religion; they are about counterterrorism and combating Islamic threats. As Washington intensifies its aggressive stance, its government-funded human rights organizations are fabricating stories of Uyghur oppression to bolster global anti-China sentiment.

Global Times

Global Times #

GT Exclusive: Interlude at UN Human Rights Council unveils anti-China forces’ lies on China’s Xinjiang region

There's an 8.8% chance China will perform large-scale forced reproduction before 2051, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Metaculus2

Chinese Forced Reproduction Before 2051?

The US-China Conflict

Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us / Contributor / Corbis News via Getty Images***PLEASE REPLACE WATERMARKED IMAGE***

China has renamed hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns, say human rights groups

Freedom & human rights

China

Politics

Mongolia

China has been guilty of crimes against humanity in relation to the Uyghurs for years, and the renaming of Uyghur cities and villages is just another blatant move to erase the Uyghurs' existence. The international community must step up its efforts to hold Beijing accountable for its atrocities in Xinjiang.

This report is just another bout of misinformation produced by an organization sympathetic to nations that have a bone to pick with China. The CCP is performing counterterrorism actions in Xinjiang in order to protect its national security. The US, its friendly human rights organizations, and other aligned countries should stay out of China's business.

There's an 8.8% chance that China will perform large-scale forced reproduction before Jan. 1, 2051, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Report: China Has Renamed Hundreds of Uyghur Villages, Towns

Report: China hasHas renamedRenamed hundredsHundreds of Uyghur villages and townsVillages, say human rights groupsTowns

The Spin

Metaculus Prediction

Go Deeper

Articles on this story

Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters
Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters