Xinjiang conflict

{{Further|History of Xinjiang|Turkic settlement of the Tarim Basin|East Turkestan independence movement}}

Xinjiang is a large central-Asian region within the People's Republic of China comprising numerous minority groups: 45% of its population are Uyghurs, and 40% are Han.{{cite book|author1=((国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司 [Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics]))|author2=((国家民族事务委员会经济发展司 [Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission]))|script-title=zh:2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料|language=zh-CN|trans-title= 2000 Census Chinese National Population Information|location= Beijing|publisher=民族出版社 [Nationalities Publishing House]|date=September 2003|isbn=978-7-105-05425-1}} Its heavily industrialised capital, Ürümqi, has a population of more than 2.3 million, about 75% of whom are Han, 12.8% are Uyghur, and 10% are from other ethnic groups.

In general, Uyghurs and the mostly Han government disagree on which group has greater historical claim to the Xinjiang region: Uyghurs believe their ancestors were indigenous to the area, whereas government policy considers Xinjiang to have belonged to China since around 200 BC during Han Dynasty.{{sfnp|Gladney|2004|pp=112–114}} According to Chinese policy, Uyghurs are classified as a National Minority; they are considered to be no more indigenous to Xinjiang than the Han, and have no special rights to the land under the law.{{sfnp|Gladney|2004|pp=112–114}} During the Mao era the People's Republic oversaw the migration into Xinjiang of millions of Han, who have been accused of economically dominating the region,{{cite web |publisher=Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Analyst |url = http://www.cacianalyst.org/newsite/newsite/?q=node/364 |date = 16 February 2000 |access-date = 29 January 2010 |last=Rudelson |first=Justin Ben-Adam |title = Uyghur "separatism": China's policies in Xinjiang fuel dissent |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120229150459/http://www.cacianalyst.org/newsite/newsite/?q=node%2F364 |archive-date = 29 February 2012 }}{{cite news |url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/new-frontier-same-old-problems/article1208363/ |first=Wenran |last=Jiang |date = 6 July 2009 |access-date = 18 January 2010 |work = The Globe and Mail |title = New Frontier, same problems |quote = But just as in Tibet, the local population has viewed the increasing unequal distribution of wealth and income between China's coastal and inland regions, and between urban and rural areas, with an additional ethnic dimension. Most are not separatists, but they perceive that most of the economic opportunities in their homeland are taken by the Han Chinese, who are often better educated, better connected, and more resourceful. The Uyghurs also resent discrimination against their people by the Han, both in Xinjiang and elsewhere. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090710011823/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/new-frontier-same-old-problems/article1208363/ |archive-date=10 July 2009 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title = Why the Uighurs feel left out of China's boom |last=Ramzy |first=Austin |url = http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1910302,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar |magazine=Time |date = 14 July 2009 |access-date = 5 September 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121105163552/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1910302,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar |archive-date = 5 November 2012 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title = How China Wins and Loses Xinjiang |date = 9 July 2009 |access-date = 5 September 2009 |last=Larson |first=Christina |url = http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/07/09/how_china_wins_and_loses_xinjiang?page=0,0&obref=obinsite |work=Foreign Policy |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110608155032/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/07/09/how_china_wins_and_loses_xinjiang?page=0,0&obref=obinsite |archive-date = 8 June 2011 }} although a 2008 survey on both ethnic groups has contradicted the allegation.{{Cite journal|last1=Anthony Howell|last2=Cindy Fan|date=2011|title=Migration and Inequality in Xinjiang: A Survey of Han and Uyghur Migrants in Urumqi|url=https://geog.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/users/fan/403.pdf|journal=Eurasian Geography and Economics|location=University of California, Los Angeles}}

Current Chinese minority policy is based on affirmative action, and has reinforced a Uyghur ethnic identity that is distinct from the Han population.{{sfnp|Bovingdon|2005|pp=4, 19}}{{sfnp|Dillon|2004|p=51}} However, Human Rights Watch describes a "multi-tiered system of surveillance, control, and suppression of religious activity" perpetrated by state authorities. It is estimated that over 100,000 Uyghurs are currently held in political "re-education camps", and far-reaching surveillance operations using drones produced by DJI are being undertaken.{{Cite web|last1=Venable|first1=John|last2=Ries|first2=Lora|date=August 19, 2020|title=Chinese-Made Drones: A Direct Threat Whose Use Should Be Curtailed|url=https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/BG3521.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114231617/https://www.heritage.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/BG3521.pdf|url-status=unfit|archive-date=14 November 2020|website=The Heritage Foundation}} China justifies such measures as a response to the terrorist threat posed by extremist separatist groups. These policies, in addition to some long-standing prejudices between the Han and Uyghurs,{{Cite book |last=Holdstock |first=Nick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HcicDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA94 |title=China's Forgotten People: Xinjiang, Terror and the Chinese State |date=2019-06-13 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78831-982-9 |location=London |pages=94 |language=en}}{{Cite book|last1=Svanberg|first1=Ingvar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jTVjWTllOGgC&q=+han+and+uighur+parentage|title=Islam Outside the Arab World|last2=Westerlund|first2=David|date=1999|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-11330-7|language=en}}{{cite web |url = https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2009/07/on-uighurs-han-and-general-racial-attitudes-in-china/21137/ |title=On Uighurs, Han, and general racial attitudes in China |last=Fallows|first=James|date=13 July 2009|website=The Atlantic|access-date=24 December 2019}}{{Cite web |url = https://apnews.com/a48de48b634146db80e48de8a76e2a97 |title = China's model village of ethnic unity shows cracks in facade |date=22 November 2018|website=AP NEWS |access-date=12 December 2019}}{{cite web |url = http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt05/2005_3a_minorities.php |publisher=Congressional-Executive Commission on China |date=1 October 2005 |access-date=6 May 2010 |title=China's Minorities and Government Implementation of the Regional Ethnic Autonomy Law |quote=[Uyghurs] live in cohesive communities largely separated from Han Chinese, practice major world religions, have their own written scripts, and have supporters outside of China. Relations between these minorities and Han Chinese have been strained for centuries. |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100407172630/http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt05/2005_3a_minorities.php |archive-date=7 April 2010 }} have sometimes resulted in tension between the two ethnic groups.{{sfnp|Sautman|1997|p=35}} As a result of the policies, the Uyghurs' freedoms of religion and of movement have been curtailed,{{cite news |url = http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100002509/urumqi-riots-signal-dark-days-ahead/ |title=Urumqi riots signal dark days ahead |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=7 July 2009 |access-date=7 July 2009 |last=Moore |first=Malcolm |location=London |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121004092133/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100002509/urumqi-riots-signal-dark-days-ahead/ |archive-date=4 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{sfnp|Bovingdon|2005|pp=34–35}} and many of them believe the government downplays their history and traditional culture.{{sfnp|Gladney|2004|pp=112–114}}{{Failed verification|date=November 2020}}

On the other hand, some Han citizens view Uyghurs as benefiting from special treatment, such as preferential admission to universities and exemption from the (now abandoned) one-child policy,{{sfnp|Sautman|1997|pp=29–31}} and as "harbouring separatist aspirations".{{cite news |url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/608f0f80-6cac-11de-af56-00144feabdc0.html |work=Financial Times |title=Uighur riots show need for rethink by Beijing |first=Minxin |last=Pei |date=9 July 2009 |access-date=18 January 2010 |quote = Han Chinese view the Uighurs as harbouring separatist aspirations and being disloyal and ungrateful, in spite of preferential policies for ethnic minority groups.}} Nonetheless, it was observed in 2013 that at least in the workplace, Uyghur-Han relations seemed relatively friendly,{{sfn|Finley|2013|p=166}} and a survey from 2009 suggested that 70% of Uyghur respondents had Han friends while 82% of Han had Uyghur friends.{{Cite book |year=2009 |page=21 |url= https://research.nus.edu.sg/eai/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/11/Vol1No3_ShanweiChenGang.pdf |title=The Urumqi Riots and China's Ethnic Policy in Xinjiang |publisher=National University of Singapore}}

Due to exemption from the one-child policy, Uyghur numbers increased from 5.5 million in 1980s to over 12 million in 2017.{{cite news |last=Ted Regencia |date=8 July 2021 |title=What you should know about China's minority Uighurs |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/8/uighurs-timeline |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721111146/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/8/uighurs-timeline |archive-date=21 July 2021 |work=Al Jazeera}}

Ethnic minority couples were paid incentives to keep their family size below the legal limit and accept sterilisation after three children preceding the removal of the preferential policy.{{cite news |title=The government in Xinjiang is trying to limit Muslim births |url = https://www.economist.com/news/china/21678007-government-xinjiang-trying-limit-muslim-births-remote-control |newspaper=The Economist |date=7 November 2015 |access-date=10 November 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151110015435/http://www.economist.com/news/china/21678007-government-xinjiang-trying-limit-muslim-births-remote-control |archive-date=10 November 2015 |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Islamophobia in China}}

Islamic leaders during the Cultural Revolution were forced to take part in acts against their religion, such as eating pork.{{cite journal |first1=Elisabeth |last1=Alles |first2=Leila |last2=Cherif-Chebbi |first3=Constance-Helene |last3=Halfon |title=Chinese Islam: Unity and Fragmentation |journal=Religion, State & Society |volume=31 |issue=1 |year=2003 |page=14 |url = http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/31-1_007.pdf |access-date=28 June 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160429210144/http://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/rss/31-1_007.pdf |archive-date=29 April 2016 |url-status=live |doi=10.1080/0963749032000045837 |s2cid=144070358 }} China does not enforce the law against children attending mosques on non-Uyghurs outside Xinjiang.{{sfnp|Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|2005|p=160}}{{cite web |last=Szadziewski |first=Henryk |title=Religious Repression of Uyghurs in East Turkestan |url = http://www.venninstitute.org/uncategorized/religious-repression-of-uyghurs-in-east-turkestan |website=Venn Institute |date=19 March 2013 |access-date=26 June 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140327231707/http://www.venninstitute.org/uncategorized/religious-repression-of-uyghurs-in-east-turkestan |archive-date=27 March 2014 |url-status=dead }} Since the 1980s Islamic private schools (Sino-Arabic schools ({{lang-zh|labels=no|s=中阿学校}})) have been permitted by the Chinese government in Muslim areas, excluding Xinjiang because of its separatist sentiment.{{efn|The People's Republic, founded in 1949, banned private confessional teaching from the early 1950s to the 1980s, until a more liberal stance allowed religious mosque education to resume and private Muslim schools to open. Moreover, except in Xinjiang for fear of secessionist feelings, the government allowed and sometimes encouraged the founding of private Muslim schools in order to provide education for people who could not attend increasingly expensive state schools or who left them early, for lack of money or lack of satisfactory achievements.{{harvp|Versteegh|Eid|2005|p=383}}}}{{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGXtgvjkpgQ |trans-title=Chinese-Arabic School Muslim Students Graduation Ceremony |script-title=zh:临夏中阿学校第二十二届毕业典礼 金镖阿訇讲话2007 |last=Su |first = Jinbao |title=- YouTube |date=8 November 2015 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170429033452/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGXtgvjkpgQ |archive-date=29 April 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB98XLc-J6o |trans-title=Chinese Muslim Makes a Speech in Islamic Girls' School |script-title=zh:老华寺女校举行演讲仪式 上集 |last=Su |first = Jinbao |title=- YouTube |date=8 November 2015 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170211193443/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB98XLc-J6o |archive-date=11 February 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xa7m9slJRo |title = Muslim in China, Graduation ceremony of a Islamic girls' school |last=nottc|date=11 September 2011 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170401031359/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xa7m9slJRo |archive-date=1 April 2017 |url-status=live }}

Hui Muslims employed by the state, unlike Uyghurs, are allowed to fast during Ramadan. The number of Hui going on Hajj is expanding and Hui women are allowed to wear veils, but Uyghur women are discouraged from wearing them.{{cite news |last=Beech |first=Hannah |title=If China Is Anti-Islam, Why Are These Chinese Muslims Enjoying a Faith Revival? |url = https://time.com/3099950/china-muslim-hui-xinjiang-uighur-islam/ |access-date=25 June 2015 |magazine=Time |date=12 August 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150613040500/http://time.com/3099950/china-muslim-hui-xinjiang-uighur-islam/ |archive-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=live }} Muslim ethnic groups in different regions are treated differently by the Chinese government with regard to religious freedom. Religious freedom exists for Hui Muslims, who can practice their religion, build mosques and have their children attend them; more restrictions are placed on Uyghurs in Xinjiang.{{sfnp|Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|2005|p={{page needed|date=May 2020}}}} Hui religious schools are allowed, and an autonomous network of mosques and schools run by a Hui Sufi leader was formed with the approval of the Chinese government.{{sfnp|Bovingdon|2010|p={{Page needed|date=September 2019}}}}{{cite web |last=Savadove |first=Bill |date=17 August 2005 |title=Faith Flourishes in an Arid Wasteland |newspaper=South China Morning Post |url = http://www.scmp.com/article/512501/faith-flourishes-arid-wasteland |access-date=25 June 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150626115251/http://www.scmp.com/article/512501/faith-flourishes-arid-wasteland |archive-date=26 June 2015 |url-status=live }} According to The Diplomat, Uyghur religious activities are curtailed but Hui Muslims are granted widespread religious freedom; therefore, Chinese governmental policy is directed at Uyghur separatism.{{cite news |last=Crane |first=Brent |date=22 August 2014 |title = A Tale of Two Chinese Muslim Minorities |work = The Diplomat |url = https://thediplomat.com/2014/08/a-tale-of-two-chinese-muslim-minorities/ |access-date=25 June 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150626102249/https://thediplomat.com/2014/08/a-tale-of-two-chinese-muslim-minorities/ |archive-date=26 June 2015 |url-status=live }}

In the last two decades of the 20th century, Uyghurs in Turpan were treated favourably by China with regard to religion; while Kashgar and Hotan were subject to more stringent government control.{{sfnp|Rudelson|1997|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA46 46–47]}}{{cite magazine|last=Gillette|first=Philip S.|title=Ethnic Balance and Imbalance in Kazakhstan's Regions|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cQppAAAAMAAJ&q=Turpan+liberalization+religious |date=1993|issue=3|page=19|magazine=Central Asia Monitor|access-date=10 March 2014}}{{sfnp|Mackerras|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3EWAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 118]}} Uyghur and Han Communist officials in Turpan turned a blind eye to the law, allowing Islamic education of Uyghur children.{{sfnp|Svanberg|Westerlund|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jTVjWTllOGgC&pg=PA202 202]}}{{sfnp|Rudelson|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA81 81]}} Religious celebrations and the Hajj were encouraged by the Chinese government for Uyghur Communist Party members, and 350 mosques were built in Turpan between 1979 and 1989.{{sfnp|Rudelson|1997|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MT2D_0_eBPQC&pg=PA129 129]}} As a result, Han, Hui and the Chinese government were then viewed more positively by Uyghurs in Turpan.{{sfnp|Svanberg|Westerlund|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jTVjWTllOGgC&pg=PA205 205]}} In 1989, there were 20,000 mosques in Xinjiang.{{sfnp|Finley|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQBBAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA236 236]}} Until separatist disturbances began in 1996, China allowed people to ignore the rule prohibiting religious observance by government officials.{{sfnp|Finley|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQBBAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 237]}} Large mosques were built with Chinese government assistance in Ürümqi.{{sfnp|Finley|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQBBAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA238 238]}} While rules proscribing religious activities were enforced in southern Xinjiang, conditions were comparatively lax in Ürümqi.{{sfnp|Finley|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LQBBAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA240 240]}}

File:受保护的叶城国际大巴扎.jpg

According to The Economist, in 2016 Uyghurs faced difficulties travelling within Xinjiang and live in fenced-off neighbourhoods with checkpoint entrances. In southern Ürümqi, each apartment door has a QR code so police can easily see photos of the dwelling's authorized residents.{{cite news |title=Xinjiang: The race card |url = https://www.economist.com/news/china/21706327-leader-troubled-western-province-has-been-replaced-he-will-not-be-missed-its-ethnic |access-date=3 September 2016 |newspaper=The Economist |date=3 September 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160902220344/http://www.economist.com/news/china/21706327-leader-troubled-western-province-has-been-replaced-he-will-not-be-missed-its-ethnic |archive-date=2 September 2016 |url-status=live }}

In 2017, overseas Uyghur activists claimed that new restrictions were being imposed, including people being fined heavily or subjected to programmes of "re-education" for refusing to eat during fasting in Ramadan, the detention of hundreds of Uyghurs as they returned from Mecca pilgrimages, and many standard Muslim names, such as Muhammad, being banned for newborn children.{{cite news |title=An American agency denounces the treatment of Muslims in China |url = https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/07/diplomacy-and-religious-freedom |access-date=9 July 2017 |newspaper=The Economist |date=7 July 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170709012213/https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/07/diplomacy-and-religious-freedom |archive-date=9 July 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title = China Bans List of Islamic Names, Including 'Muhammad', in Xinjiang Region|url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-27/china-bans-list-of-islamic-names-including-muhammad-in-xinjiang-region |access-date=9 July 2017 |agency=Bloomberg News |date=27 April 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170818155118/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-27/china-bans-list-of-islamic-names-including-muhammad-in-xinjiang-region |archive-date=18 August 2017 |url-status=live }} It was claimed that Han officials had been assigned to reside in the homes of those with interned Uyghur family members as part of the government's "Pair Up and Become Family" program.{{cite news |url = https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/cosleeping-10312019160528.html |title=Male Chinese 'Relatives' Assigned to Uyghur Homes Co-sleep With Female 'Hosts' |last=Lipes |first=Joshua |date=31 October 2019 |publisher=Radio Free Asia |access-date=2 November 2019 }}{{Cite news|url=https://apnews.com/9ca1c29fc9554c1697a8729bba4dd93b|title=China's Uighurs told to share beds, meals with party members|last1=Kang|first1=Dake|date=30 November 2018|access-date=18 January 2020|work=Associated Press|last2=Wang|first2=Yanan}} There were also reportedly separate queues for Uyghurs and outsiders, where the former needed to get their identity cards checked at numerous points.{{cite web |url = https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/uighurs-in-china-should-we-believe-what-we-see/cid/1686191 |title = Uighurs in China: Should we believe what we see?|website=www.telegraphindia.com |access-date=12 December 2019 }}

In 2021 Amnesty International released a 160-page report on the human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang. It intensively describes China's collection of the biometric data and surveillance of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.“‘Like We Were Enemies in a War.’” China's Mass Internment, Torture and Persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang, Amnesty International, 2021, xinjiang.amnesty.org/. Additionally in 2021 PBS' Frontline discusses the extensive surveillance and facial recognition software being utilized in Xinjiang. From QR codes to facial recognition cameras and "home stays," by government officials. They estimate nearly two million Uyghurs are being detained across over 12,000 camps.Barnwell, Robin, and Gesbeen Mohammad. “China Undercover.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 23 Aug. 2022, www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/china-undercover/.

{{Main|History of Xinjiang|Islamization and Turkification of Xinjiang}}

The history of the region has become highly politicised, with both Chinese and nationalist Uyghur historians frequently overstating the extent of their groups' respective ties to the region.{{sfnp|Bovingdon|2010|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=NrtIa77Sj2IC&pg=PA24 24–25]}} In reality, it has been home to many groups throughout history, with the Uyghurs arriving from Central Asia in the 10th century.{{cite news |last1=Wong |first1=Edward |title=The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn't Care to Listen To |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html |access-date=10 June 2018 |newspaper =The New York Times |date=18 November 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180612224616/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/world/asia/19mummy.html |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live }} Although various Chinese dynasties have at times exerted control over parts of what is now Xinjiang,{{sfnp|Clarke|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhHphtBg-QC&pg=PA16 16]}} the region as it exists today came under Chinese rule as a result of the westward expansion of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, which also saw the annexation of Mongolia and Tibet.{{cite magazine |last=Millward |first=James |title='Reeducating' Xinjiang's Muslims |url = https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/02/07/reeducating-xinjiangs-muslims/ |magazine=The New York Review of Books |access-date=30 January 2019 |date=7 February 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190129133538/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2019/02/07/reeducating-xinjiangs-muslims/ |archive-date=29 January 2019 |url-status=live }}

Early Qing rule was marked by a "culturally pluralist" approach, with a prohibition on Chinese settlement in the region, and indirect rule through supervised local officials.{{cite book |first=Hodong |last=Kim |title=Holy War in China: The Muslim Rebellion and State in Chinese Central Asia, 1864–1877 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=AtduqAtBzegC&pg=PA180 |date=2004 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6723-1 |pages=180–181}} An increased tax burden placed on the local population due to rebellions elsewhere in China later led to a number of Hui-led Muslim rebellions.{{cite journal |last=Tschantret |first=Joshua |title=Repression, opportunity, and innovation: The evolution of terrorism in Xinjiang, China |journal=Terrorism and Political Violence |date=16 June 2016 |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=569–588 |doi=10.1080/09546553.2016.1182911 |s2cid=147865241 }}{{cite book |first = Eileen |last = Tamura |title = China: Understanding Its Past |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=O0TQ_Puz-w8C&pg=PA129 |year=1997 |publisher = University of Hawaii Press |isbn = 978-0-8248-1923-1 |page = 129 }} The region was subsequently recaptured, and was established as an official province in 1884.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}}

Near the end of their rule the Qing tried to colonize Xinjiang along with other parts of the imperial frontier. To accomplish this goal they began a policy of settler colonialism by which Han Chinese were resettled on the frontier.{{cite web |last1=Leibold |first1=James |title=Beyond Xinjiang: Xi Jinping's Ethnic Crackdown |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/04/beyond-xinjiang-xi-jinpings-ethnic-crackdown/ |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=The Diplomat}}

{{Further|First East Turkestan Republic|Second East Turkestan Republic}}

After the 1928 assassination of Yang Zengxin, governor of the semi-autonomous Kumul Khanate in east Xinjiang under the Republic of China, he was succeeded by Jin Shuren. On the death of the Kamul Khan Maqsud Shah in 1930, Jin abolished the Khanate entirely and took control of the region as warlord.{{sfnp|Forbes|1986|p=45}} Corruption, appropriation of land, and the commandeering of grain and livestock by Chinese military forces were all factors which led to the eventual Kumul Rebellion that established the First East Turkestan Republic in 1933.{{sfnp|Forbes|1986|p=46}}{{sfnp|Millward|2007|p=341}}{{sfnp|Dillon|2014|p=36}} In 1934, it was conquered by warlord Sheng Shicai with the aid of the Soviet Union. Sheng's leadership was marked by heavy Soviet influence, with him openly offering Xinjiang's valuable natural resources in exchange for Soviet help in crushing revolts, such as in 1937.{{sfnp|Millward|Tursun|2004|p=80}} Although already in use,{{efn|The First East Turkestan Republic had considered the name "Uyghuristan", with some early coins bearing that name, but settled on the "East Turkestan Republic" on the basis that there were other Turkic peoples in Xinjiang and the new government.{{sfnp|Millward|Tursun|2004|p=78}}}} it was in this period that the term "Uyghur" was first used officially over the generic "Turkic", as part of an effort to "undermine potential broader bases of identity" such as Turkic or Muslim. In 1942, Sheng sought reconciliation with the Republic of China, abandoning the Soviets.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

In 1944, the Ili Rebellion led to the Second East Turkestan Republic. Though direct evidence of Soviet involvement remains circumstantial, and rebel forces were primarily made up of Turkic Muslims with the support of the local population, the new state was dependent on the Soviet Union for trade, arms, and "tacit consent" for its continued existence.{{sfnp|Benson|1990|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=suuXIhetjZcC&pg=PA40 40–41]}} When the Communists defeated the Republic of China in the Chinese Civil War, the Soviets helped the Communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) recapture it, and it was annexed by the People's Republic in 1949.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region was established in 1955.{{cite web |last1=Bhattacharji |first1=Preeti |title=Uighurs and China's Xinjiang Region |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/uighurs-and-chinas-xinjiang-region |website=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913002530/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/uighurs-and-chinas-xinjiang-region |archive-date=13 September 2018 |url-status=live}}

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, between 60,000 and 200,000 Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other minorities fled China to the USSR, largely as a result of the Great Leap Forward.{{cite web |last=Guerif |first=Valentine |title = Making States, Displacing Peoples: A Comparative Perspective of Xinjiang and Tibet in the People's Republic of China |url = https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/files-1/wp61-making-states-displacing-peoples-2010.pdf |publisher=Refugee Studies Centre |access-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171125210757/https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/files-1/wp61-making-states-displacing-peoples-2010.pdf |archive-date=25 November 2017 |url-status=live }}{{sfnp|Bovingdon|2010|p=61}} As the Sino-Soviet split deepened, the Soviets initiated an extensive propaganda campaign criticising China, encouraging minority groups to migrate – and later revolt – and attempting to undermine Chinese sovereignty by appealing to separatist tendencies. In 1962, China stopped issuing exit permits for Soviet citizens, as the Soviet consulate had been distributing passports to enable the exodus.{{sfnp|Shichor|2004|p=138}} A resulting demonstration in Yining was met with open fire by the PLA, sparking further protests and mass defections. China responded to these developments by relocating non-Han populations away from the border, creating a "buffer zone" which would later be filled with Han farmers and Bingtuan militia.{{sfnp|Bovingdon|2010|p=61}}{{sfnp|Shichor|2004|p=138}} Tensions continued to escalate throughout the decade, with ethnic guerrilla groups based in Kazakhstan frequently raiding Chinese border posts,{{sfnp|Shichor|2004|p=139}}{{cite web |url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19690102&id=ylsgAAAAIBAJ&pg=4665,144363 |title = Russians Back Revolution in Province Inside China |last=Ryan|first=William L. |date=2 January 1969 |newspaper=The Lewiston Daily Sun |agency=Associated Press }} and Chinese and Soviet forces clashing on the border in 1969.{{sfnp|Shichor|2004|p=139}}{{cite web |url = http://www.tol.org/client/article/21490-kazakhstan-and-china-a-two-way-street.html |title = Kazakhstan and China: A Two-Way Street |last=Tinibai |first=Kenjali |date=27 May 2010 |website = Transitions Online |url-access=subscription }}{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/06/world/on-soviet-china-border-the-thaw-is-just-a-trickle.html |title = On Soviet-China Border, the Thaw is Just a Trickle |last=Burns |first=John F. |date=6 July 1983 |newspaper = The New York Times }}

From the 1950s to the 1970s, a state-orchestrated mass migration into Xinjiang has raised the number of Han from 7% to 40% of the population, exacerbating ethnic tensions.{{cite web |last1=Howell |first1=Anthony |last2=Fan |first2 = C. Cindy |title = Migration and Inequality in Xinjiang: A Survey of Han and Uyghur Migrants in Urumqi |url= https://geog.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/users/fan/403.pdf |access-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180912022518/https://geog.ucla.edu/sites/default/files/users/fan/403.pdf |archive-date=12 September 2018 |url-status=live }} On the other hand, a declining infant-mortality rate, improved medical care and non-applicability of China's one-child policy on minorities have helped the Uyghur population in Xinjiang grow from four million in the 1960s to eight million in 2001.{{sfnp|Veeck|Pannell|Smith|Huang|2011|pp=102–103}}

In 1968, the East Turkestan People's Party was the largest militant Uyghur separatist organization, and may have received support from the Soviet Union.{{sfnp|Dillon|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1ia-2lDtGH4C&pg=PA57 57]}}{{sfnp|Clarke|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhHphtBg-QC&pg=PA69 69]}}{{sfnp|Nathan|Scobell|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=etRkjLv8AosC&pg=PT278 278]}} During the 1970s, the Soviets likely supported the United Revolutionary Front of East Turkestan (URFET),{{sfnp|Reed|Raschke|2010|p=37}} which issued a series of press releases responsible for creating the impression of an active, organized resistance movement, despite involving only a handful of individuals.{{cite book|author=Martin I. Wayne|title=China's War on Terrorism: Counter-Insurgency, Politics and Internal Security|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ybmWJXjxUYC&pg=PA46|date=6 November 2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-10623-3|page=46}}{{cite book|author=James A. Millward|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&q=URFET&pg=PA341|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13924-3|page=341f}}{{cite book|author1=Colin Mackerras|author2=Michael Clarke|title=China, Xinjiang and Central Asia: History, Transition and Crossborder Interaction Into the 21st Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QoF8AgAAQBAJ&pg=PR14|date=14 April 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-05387-2|page=14|quote="Activities of the UNRFET nevertheless involved a handful of individuals, mostly former ETR leaders and officers, but did not acquire a wider support even among local intellectuals, who, although they sympathized with its goals, did not join it."}} Its founder, Yusupbek Mukhlis came to be resented by other Uyghur groups for "exaggerating Uyghur involvement in militant activities", including falsely claiming credit for terrorist attacks.{{sfnp|Millward|2004|p=25}}

Xinjiang's importance to China increased after the 1979 Soviet assistance to Afghanistan, which led to China's perception of being encircled by the Soviets.{{sfnp|Clarke|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhHphtBg-QC&pg=PA76 76]}} China supported the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet assistance to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and broadcast reports of Soviet atrocities committed on Afghan Muslims to Uyghurs to counter Soviet broadcasts to Xinjiang that Soviet Muslim minorities had a better life.{{cite news |title=Radio war aims at China Moslems |work=The Montreal Gazette |date=22 September 1981 |page=11 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19810922&id=3oAxAAAAIBAJ&pg=5348,448513 |access-date=9 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506181806/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1946&dat=19810922&id=3oAxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9KQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5348,448513 |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live}} Anti-Soviet Chinese radio broadcasts targeted Central Asian ethnic minorities, such as the Kazakhs.{{cite news |first=Kenjali |last=Tinibai |title=China and Kazakhstan: A Two-Way Street |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=28 May 2010 |page=1 |url = http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2010/gb20100528_168520.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150705185320/http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/may2010/gb20100528_168520.htm |archive-date=5 July 2015}} The Soviets feared disloyalty by the non-Russian Kazakh, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz in the event of a Chinese invasion of Soviet Central Asia, and Russians were taunted by Central Asians: "Just wait till the Chinese get here, they'll show you what's what!"{{cite journal|last=Meehan|first=Dallace L.|title=Ethnic Minorities in the Soviet Military: implications for the decades ahead|journal=Air University Review|date=May 1980|url= http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1980/may-jun/meehan.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140513084042/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1980/may-jun/meehan.html|archive-date=13 May 2014|url-status=dead}} Chinese authorities viewed Han migrants in Xinjiang as vital to defence against the Soviet Union.{{sfnp|Clarke|2011|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRhHphtBg-QC&pg=PA78 78]}} China established camps to train the Afghan mujahideen near Kashgar and Hotan, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in small arms, rockets, mines, and anti-tank weapons.{{sfnp|Shichor|2004|pp=149, 159}} During the 1980s, student demonstrations and riots against police action assumed an ethnic aspect, and the April 1990 Baren Township riot has been acknowledged as a turning point.{{cite report |first = Shawn M. |last = Patrick |date=20 May 2010 |title = The Uyghur Movement: China's Insurgency in Xinjiang |url = http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a523195.pdf |publisher=School of Advanced Military Studies |page=32 |access-date=19 November 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161012044510/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a523195.pdf|archive-date=12 October 2016 |url-status=live }}

The Soviet Union supported Uyghur nationalist propaganda and Uyghur separatist movements against China. Soviet historians claimed that the Uyghur native land was Xinjiang; and Uyghur nationalism was promoted by Soviet versions of history on turcology.{{sfnp|Bellér-Hann|2007|p=37}} This included support of Uyghur historians such as Tursun Rakhimov, who wrote more historical works supporting Uyghur independence, claiming that Xinjiang was an entity created by China made out of the different parts of East Turkestan and Zungharia.{{sfnp|Bellér-Hann|2007|p=38}} Bellér-Hann describes these Soviet Uyghur historians were waging an "ideological war" against China, emphasizing the "national liberation movement" of Uyghurs throughout history.{{sfnp|Bellér-Hann|2007|p=39}} The CPSU supported the publication of works which glorified the Second East Turkestan Republic and the Ili Rebellion against China in its anti-China propaganda war.{{sfnp|Bellér-Hann|2007|p=40}}

China's "Strike Hard" campaign{{efn|Note to be confused with the post-2014 "Strike Hard" campaign}} against crime, beginning in 1996, saw thousands of arrests, as well as executions, and "constant human rights violations", and also marked reduction in religious freedom.{{cite journal |last=Castets |first=Rémi |year=2003 |title=The Uyghurs in Xinjiang – The Malaise Grows |url=http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/648#tocto1n6 |url-status=live |journal=China Perspectives |publication-place=France |volume=49 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511024214/http://chinaperspectives.revues.org/648#tocto1n6 |archive-date=11 May 2013 |access-date=8 April 2016 |via=Revues.org}} These policies, and a feeling of political marginalization, contributed to the fomentation of groups who carried out numerous guerrilla operations, including sabotage and attacks on police barracks, and occasionally even acts of terrorism including bomb attacks and assassinations of government officials.

A February 1992 Ürümqi bus bombing, attributed to the Shock Brigade of the Islamic Reformist Party, resulted in three deaths.

On 28 October 2013, five Uyghurs drove a jeep into Beijing's Tiananmen Square, set the gas tank on fire, killed two civilians and injured more than forty bystanders.{{Cite book |last=Sun |first=Yi |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=Leiden University Press |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |pages=154 |chapter=Necessitated by Geopolitics: China's Economic and Cultural Initiatives in Central Asia |jstor=jj.15136086 |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}} These Uyghurs had jihadist flags and there was evidence of their ties to ETIM.

On 2 March 2014, eight Uyghurs armed with knives attacked civilians in a train station in southern China, killing 33 and injuring 143.

A police roundup and execution of 30 suspected separatists during Ramadan resulted in large demonstrations in February 1997, characterised as riots by Chinese state media outlet China Daily{{cite news |title=Xinjiang to intensify crackdown on separatists |work=China Daily News |date=25 October 2001 |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2001-10/25/content_90592.htm |access-date=11 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160423202731/http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2001-10/25/content_90592.htm |archive-date=23 April 2016 |url-status=live }} and peaceful by Western media.{{cite web |publisher=Amnesty International |title=China: Remember the Gulja massacre? China's crackdown on peaceful protesters |date=2 January 2007 |url = https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/002/2007/en/ |access-date=21 November 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181122060422/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa17/002/2007/en/ |archive-date=22 November 2018 |url-status=live }} The demonstrations culminated in the 5 February Ghulja incident, in which a People's Liberation Army (PLA) crackdown led to at least nine deaths.{{cite web |url = https://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/china-bck1017.htm |title = China: Human Rights Concerns in Xinjiang |website=Human Rights Watch |date=October 2001 |access-date=4 December 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081112153554/http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/china-bck1017.htm |archive-date=12 November 2008 |url-status=live }} 25 February Ürümqi bus bombings killed nine people and injured 68. Responsibility for the attacks was acknowledged by Uyghur exile groups.{{sfnp|Dillon|2003|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1ia-2lDtGH4C&pg=PA99 99–]}}{{sfnp|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA333 333–]}}

In Beijing's Xidan district, a bus bomb killed two people on 7 March 1997; Uyghur separatists claimed responsibility for the attack.{{sfnp|Debata|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7Xe8CUZ0_r4C&pg=PA170 170]}} Uyghur participation in the bombing was dismissed by the Chinese government, and the Turkish-based Organisation for East Turkistan Freedom admitted responsibility for the attack.{{sfnp|Millward|2007|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA333 333–]}} The bus bombings triggered a change in policy, with China acknowledging separatist violence.{{cite journal |last=Gladney |first=Dru C. |author-link=Dru C. Gladney |date=January 1998 |title=Internal Colonialism and the Uyghur Nationality: Chinese Nationalism and its Subaltern Subjects |url=https://cemoti.revues.org/48 |url-status=live |journal=:fr:Cahiers d'Études Sur la Méditerranée Orientale et le Monde Turco-Iranien |issue=25 |doi=10.4000/cemoti.48 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012053111/https://cemoti.revues.org/48 |archive-date=12 October 2016 |access-date=29 August 2017 |via=Revues.org |doi-access=free}} The situation in Xinjiang quieted until mid-2006, although ethnic tensions remained.{{cite journal |last=Hierman |first=Brent |title=The Pacification of Xinjiang: Uighur Protest and the Chinese State, 1988–2002 |journal=Problems of Post-Communism |date=May 2007 |volume=54 |issue=3 |pages=48–62 |doi=10.2753/PPC1075-8216540304 |s2cid=154942905 }}

In 2005, Uygur author Nurmemet Yasin was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for inciting separatism following his publication of an allegorical short story, "The Blue Pigeon".{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=Hamish |date=12 November 2005 |title=China battles to convince terror sceptics |url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/china-battles-to-convince-terror-sceptics/2005/11/11/1131578236193.html?page=3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330143209/http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/china-battles-to-convince-terror-sceptics/2005/11/11/1131578236193.html?page=3 |archive-date=30 March 2014 |work=The Age |publication-place=Australia}}

{{See also|2008 Uyghur unrest|}}

{{cleanup section|reason=An excessive and ultimately unhelpful level of detail – trends are more important than events.|date=October 2018}}

The number of violent incidents and uprisings increased from the 1990s, peaking in 2014, although their extent is difficult to confirm independently due to restrictions on the access of independent observers and international journalists.{{cite book |author=Tristan James Mabry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIiKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 |title=Nationalism, Language, and Muslim Exceptionalism |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-9101-8 |page=113 |language=en |quote=Periodic uprisings against Chinese rule have erupted more frequently in recent decades, though most events are spontaneous clashes or riots in the form of "social and civil unrest by disorganized, disgruntled, fairly impulsive young men, not a widespread movement" (Smith 2001). [...] The extent of these uprisings is difficult to confirm independently as the access of independent observers (especially international journalists) is severely restricted, though it is apparent that their frequency accelerated starting in the 1990s, and has continued unabated (see, for example, Jacobs 2014).}} Nonetheless, the majority of events during this period were characterised as spontaneous clashes or riots by "disorganized, disgruntled, fairly impulsive young men".{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Craig S. |title=China, in Harsh Crackdown, Executes Muslim Separatists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/16/world/china-in-harsh-crackdown-executes-muslim-separatists.html |work=The New York Times |date=16 December 2001}}

According to Vaughan Winterbottom, although the Turkistan Islamic Party distributes propaganda videos and its Arabic Islamic Turkistan magazine (documented by Jihadology.net and the Jamestown Foundation) the Chinese government apparently denied the party's existence; China claimed that there was no terrorist connection to its 2008 bus bombings as the TIP claimed responsibility for the attacks.{{cite news |last=Winterbottom |first=Vaughan |date=14 August 2013 |title=No end in sight to Xinjiang unrest |work=China Outlook |url=http://chinaoutlook.com/no-end-in-sight-to-xinjiang-unrest/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925110632/http://chinaoutlook.com/no-end-in-sight-to-xinjiang-unrest/ |archive-date=25 September 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2015}} In 2007, police raided a suspected TIP terrorist training camp.{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801519.html |last=Fan |first=Maureen |date=9 January 2007 |title=Raid by Chinese Kills 18 At Alleged Terror Camp |access-date=29 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171020031553/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801519.html |archive-date=20 October 2017 |url-status=live |newspaper=Washington Post}} The following year, an attempted suicide bombing on a China Southern Airlines flight was thwarted{{cite news |first=Elizabeth |last=Van Wie Davis |url= https://www.academia.edu/8164338 |title=China confronts its Uyghur threat |work=Asia Times Online |date=18 April 2008 |access-date=5 May 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130603200354/http://atimes.com/atimes/China/JD18Ad01.html |archive-date=3 June 2013}} and the Kashgar attack resulted in the death of sixteen police officers four days before the beginning of the Beijing Olympics.{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/world/asia/05china.html |newspaper = The New York Times |title=Ambush in China Raises Concerns as Olympics Near |first=Andrew |last=Jacobs |date=5 August 2008 |access-date=27 March 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090410102057/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/world/asia/05china.html |archive-date=10 April 2009 |url-status=live }}

During the night of 25–26 June 2009, in the Shaoguan incident in Guangdong, two people were killed and 118 injured.{{cite web |url = http://www.china.org.cn/china/news/2009-06/27/content_18023576.htm |title = Guangdong toy factory brawl leaves 2 dead, 118 injured – china.org.cn |website=www.china.org.cn |access-date=1 November 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175701/http://www.china.org.cn/china/news/2009-06/27/content_18023576.htm |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=live }} The incident reportedly triggered the July 2009 Ürümqi riots; others were the September 2009 Xinjiang unrest and the 2010 Aksu bombing, after which 376 people were tried.{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/17/china-prosecuted-hundreds-xinjiang-unrest |title = China prosecuted hundreds over Xinjiang unrest |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=18 January 2011 |location=London |date=17 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110120013953/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/17/china-prosecuted-hundreds-xinjiang-unrest |archive-date=20 January 2011 }} The July 2011 Hotan attack led to the deaths of 18 people, 14 of whom were attackers. Although the attackers were ethnic Uyghurs,{{cite news |title=Ban on Islamic dress sparked Uygur attack |first=Chi-yuk |last=Choi |location=Hotan, China |date=22 July 2011 |newspaper = South China Morning Post }} both Han and Uyghurs were victims.{{cite news |url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2277362.ece |title = Analysts see Pakistan terror links to Xinjiang attack |first=Ananth |last=Krishnan |date=21 July 2011 |access-date=29 July 2011 |work=The Hindu |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110724152049/http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article2277362.ece |archive-date=24 July 2011 |url-status=live }} That year, six ethnic Uyghur men unsuccessfully attempted to hijack an aircraft heading to Ürümqi, a series of knife and bomb attacks occurred in July and the Pishan hostage crisis occurred in December.{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-16351368 |title = Seven 'kidnappers' killed in China's Xinjiang |date=29 December 2011 |access-date=29 December 2011 |work=BBC News |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171203054348/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-16351368 |archive-date=3 December 2017 |url-status=live }} Credit for the attacks was professed by the Turkistan Islamic Party.{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Raymond |date=20 February 2014 |title=Unrest in Xinjiang, Uyghur Province in China |url = http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2014/02/201421281846110687.html |publisher = Al Jazeera Center for Studies |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170223005429/http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2014/02/201421281846110687.html |archive-date=23 February 2017 |url-status=live}}

On 28 February 2012, an attack in Yecheng left 20 people dead, including seven attackers.{{cite web |url = http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/02/20122294486118604.html |title = Deadly knife attack reported in China |website = www.aljazeera.com |access-date=17 October 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160924075259/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/02/20122294486118604.html |archive-date=24 September 2016 |url-status=live }}

On 24 April 2013, clashes in Bachu occurred between a group of armed men and social workers and police near Kashgar. The violence left at least 21 people dead, including 15 police and officials.{{cite news |title = China's Xinjiang hit by deadly clashes |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22276042 |work = BBC News |date=24 April 2013 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130426022135/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22276042 |archive-date=26 April 2013 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title = Violence in western Chinese region of Xinjiang kills 21 |url = http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/24/world/asia/china-xinjiang-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 |work=CNN|date=24 April 2013 |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130603061336/http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/24/world/asia/china-xinjiang-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 |archive-date=3 June 2013 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |title=21 dead in Xinjiang terrorist clash |url = http://english.cntv.cn/20130424/105282.shtml |access-date=24 April 2013 |publisher=CNTV |date=24 April 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130426013845/http://english.cntv.cn/20130424/105282.shtml |archive-date=26 April 2013 |url-status=dead }} According to a local government official, the clashes broke out after three other officials reported that suspicious men armed with knives were hiding in a house outside Kashgar.{{cite news |title = Violence erupts in China's restive Xinjiang |url = http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/04/201342461038596954.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=24 April 2013 |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130502202603/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2013/04/201342461038596954.html |archive-date=2 May 2013 |url-status=live}} Two months later, on 26 June, riots in Shanshan left 35 dead, including 22 civilians, 11 rioters and 2 police officers.{{cite news |title=State media: Violence leaves 27 dead in restive minority region in far western China |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/state-media-riots-in-restive-minority-region-in-far-western-china-leave-27-dead/2013/06/26/98d9c6f0-de22-11e2-bc84-8049224b33e1_story.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130626182716/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/state-media-riots-in-restive-minority-region-in-far-western-china-leave-27-dead/2013/06/26/98d9c6f0-de22-11e2-bc84-8049224b33e1_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 June 2013 |newspaper = Washington Post |date=26 June 2013 }}

On 28 October 2013, an SUV ploughed through a group of pedestrians near Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, crashed into a stone bridge and caught fire, causing dozens of casualties. Chinese authorities quickly identified the driver as Uyghur.{{cite news|last=Kaiman|first=Jonathan|date=25 November 2013|title=Islamist group claims responsibility for attack on China's Tiananmen Square|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/islamist-china-tiananmen-beijing-attack|url-status=live|access-date=11 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911191625/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/25/islamist-china-tiananmen-beijing-attack|archive-date=11 September 2018}}

In 2014, the conflict intensified. In January, eleven Uighur militants were killed by Kyrgyz security forces.{{cite news |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kyrgyzstan-uighurs-idUSBREA0N16J20140124 |title = Kyrgyzstan says kills 11 Uighur militants near Chinese border |date=24 January 2014 |work=Reuters |access-date=10 December 2019}}{{cite news |title = Chinese embassy blast: Car bomb attack in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37217712 |work=BBC News |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181130173720/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37217712 |archive-date=30 November 2018 |url-status=live }} They were identified as Uyghurs by their appearance, and their personal effects indicated that they were separatists.{{cite news |date=24 January 2014 |title=Kyrgyzstan says kills 11 Uighur militants near Chinese border |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kyrgyzstan-uighurs-idUSBREA0N0MT20140124 |work = Reuters |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171014073513/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kyrgyzstan-uighurs-idUSBREA0N0MT20140124 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |url-status=live }}

On 1 March, a group of knife-wielding terrorists attacked the Kunming Railway Station, killing 31 and injuring 141.{{cite news |title = Unidentified Assailant kills 29 at Kunming Railway Station in China |url = http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/03/unidentified-assailant-kills-27-at-kunming-railway-station-in-china/ |agency=Indo-Asian News Service |work=Biharprabha News |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711023851/http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/03/unidentified-assailant-kills-27-at-kunming-railway-station-in-china/ |archive-date=11 July 2015 |url-status=live}} China blamed Xinjiang militants for the attack,{{cite news |url = http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-china-attack-xinjiang-20140301,0,2621490.story |title=China blames Xinjiang militants for station attack |last=Blanchard |first=Ben |work=Chicago Tribune |agency=Reuters |date=1 March 2014 |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302000912/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-china-attack-xinjiang-20140301,0,2621490.story |archive-date=2 March 2014 |url-status=dead }} and over 380 people were arrested in the following crackdown. Following reports of the attack, Uyghur-Chinese actress Medina Memet urged her fans on Weibo not to equate Uyghurs with terrorism.{{cite web |last=Kevin Tang |date=3 March 2014 |title=China's Netizens React To Kunming Station Attacks With Anger, Grief |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kevintang/chinese-react-to-kunming-station-attacks-with-anger |access-date=12 December 2019 |website=BuzzFeed News |quote=Muslim-Chinese celebrity Medina Memet urged her fans on Weibo not to equate Uighur with terror. "I have never been ashamed to say I'm from Xinjiang, or that I'm a Muslim, though my brethrens and religion keeps getting misunderstood and misused by others. I am afraid that after this attack, we will be looked at with cold eyes again. I hope the government will find out what happened, to let our people understand, to give justice to the victims, and to clear the good name of Xinjiang's peaceful citizens."}}{{cite web |date=19 April 2014 |title=China silent on deadly knife attack in Kunming railway station |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-stabbing-silence-20140419-story.html |access-date=12 December 2019 |website=Los Angeles Times}} A captured attacker and three others were charged on 30 June.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKBN0F507W20140630 |title=China charges four in Kunming attack, sentences 113 on terror crimes |work=Reuters |date=30 June 2014 |access-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201235329/http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/30/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKBN0F507W20140630 |archive-date=1 December 2015 |url-status=live }} Three of the suspects were accused of "leading and organising a terror group and intentional homicide", although they did not directly take part since they had been arrested two days earlier.{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29170238 |title=Four sentenced in China over Kunming station attack |work=BBC News |agency=Reuters |date=12 September 2014 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527051309/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-29170238 |archive-date=27 May 2018 |url-status=live }} On 12 September, a Chinese court sentenced three people to death and one to life in prison for the attack.{{cite news |url = https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKBN0H709M20140912 |title=Three get death for China train station attack |work=Reuters |date=12 September 2014 |access-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171012043235/https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKBN0H709M20140912 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |url-status=dead }} The attack was praised by ETIM.{{cite news |date=19 March 2014 |script-title=ja:「東トルキスタンイスラム運動」、昆明の無差別殺傷事件を支持＝新疆政策の再検討を要求―仏メディア |url=http://www.recordchina.co.jp/group.php?groupid=85193&type= |newspaper=Record China }}{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

On 18 April, a group of 16 Chinese citizens identified as ethnic Uyghurs engaged in a shootout with Vietnamese border guards after seizing their guns when they were being detained to be returned to China. Five Uyghurs and two Vietnamese guards died in the incident. Ten of the Uyghurs were men, and the rest were women and children.{{cite news |first=Edward |last=Wong |title=Deadly Clash Reported on Border of China and Vietnam |newspaper = The New York Times |date=20 April 2014 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/asia/deadly-clash-between-vietnamese-border-guards-and-chinese-migrants-reported.html?_r=0 |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180112160548/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/world/asia/deadly-clash-between-vietnamese-border-guards-and-chinese-migrants-reported.html?_r=0 |archive-date=12 January 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first=Edward |last=Wong |title = Vietnam Returns Migrants to China After Deadly Border Clash |date=21 April 2014 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/world/asia/vietnam-returns-migrants-to-china-after-deadly-border-clash.html |newspaper = The New York Times |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180112160607/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/22/world/asia/vietnam-returns-migrants-to-china-after-deadly-border-clash.html |archive-date=12 January 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-19/an-seven-killed-in-shootout-on-vietnam-china-border3a-vietname/5399600 |title = Seven killed in China-Vietnam border shootout |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=19 April 2014 |access-date=4 May 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140504133747/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-19/an-seven-killed-in-shootout-on-vietnam-china-border3a-vietname/5399600 |archive-date=4 May 2014 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=22320 |title = 7 die in shooting at China-Vietnam border |publisher = World Uyghur Congress |date=19 April 2014 |via=Washington Post |access-date=4 May 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140504023726/http://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/?p=22320 |archive-date=4 May 2014 |url-status=live }}

Twelve days later, two attackers stabbed people before detonating their suicide vests at an Ürümqi train station. Three people, including the attackers, were killed.{{cite news |title = Deadly China blast at Xinjiang railway station |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-27225308 |publisher=BBC |date=30 April 2014 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140430181215/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-27225308 |archive-date=30 April 2014 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title = Security tightened after three killed in bomb, knife attack at Urumqi train station |url = http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1501108/three-killed-explosion-rocks-urumqi-train-station |date=30 April 2014 |first1=Jing |last1=Li |first2=Adrian |last2=Wan |newspaper = South China Morning Post |access-date=23 May 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140512063832/http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1501108/three-killed-explosion-rocks-urumqi-train-station |archive-date=12 May 2014 |url-status=live}}

On 22 May, two suicide car bombings occurred after the occupants threw explosives from their vehicles at an Ürümqi street market. The attacks killed 43 people and injured more than 90, one of the deadliest attacks to date in the Xinjiang conflict.{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/22/china-urumqi-car-bomb-attack-xinjiang |title=Urumqi car and bomb attack kills dozens |work=The Guardian |date=22 May 2014 |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170223094409/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/22/china-urumqi-car-bomb-attack-xinjiang |archive-date=23 February 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |title = Residents Try to Move On After Terrorist Attack in China |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/world/asia/residents-try-to-move-on-after-terrorist-attack-in-china.html |newspaper = The New York Times |date=23 May 2014 |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160804192013/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/24/world/asia/residents-try-to-move-on-after-terrorist-attack-in-china.html |archive-date=4 August 2016 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/terrorist-attack-on-market-in-chinas-restive-xinjiang-region-kills-more-than-30/2014/05/22/06fab2dc-93d4-4cda-ae78-caa913819e15_story.html |title=Terrorist attack on market in China's restive Xinjiang region kills more than 30 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=22 May 2014 |last=Denyer |first=Simon |access-date=18 September 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171020035005/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/terrorist-attack-on-market-in-chinas-restive-xinjiang-region-kills-more-than-30/2014/05/22/06fab2dc-93d4-4cda-ae78-caa913819e15_story.html |archive-date=20 October 2017 |url-status=live}} On 5 June, China sentenced nine people to death for terrorist attacks in Xinjiang.{{cite news |last=Bodeen |first=Christopher |date=5 June 2014 |title=China Sentences 9 Persons to Death for Xinjiang Attacks |url=http://time.com/2836835/china-sentences-9-persons-to-death-for-xinjiang-attacks |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606082655/http://time.com/2836835/china-sentences-9-persons-to-death-for-xinjiang-attacks/ |archive-date=6 June 2014 |newspaper=Time}}

According to the Xinhua News Agency, on 28 July, 37 civilians were killed by a gang armed with knives and axes in the towns of Elixku and Huangdi in Shache County and 59 attackers were killed by security forces. Two hundred fifteen attackers were arrested after they stormed a police station and government offices. The agency also reported that 30 police cars were damaged or destroyed and dozens of Uyghur and Han Chinese civilians were killed or injured. The Uyghur American Association claimed that local Uyghurs had been protesting at the time of the attack. Two days later, the moderate imam of China's largest mosque was assassinated in Kashgar after morning prayers.{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-28628332 |title=Xinjiang violence: China says 'gang' killed 37 last week |work=BBC News |date=3 August 2014 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180214233240/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-28628332 |archive-date=14 February 2018 |url-status=live }}

On 21 September, Xinhua reported that a series of bomb blasts killed 50 people in Luntai County, southwest of the regional capital Ürümqi. The dead consisted of six civilians, four police officers and 44 rioters.{{cite news |first=Dan |last=Levin |title = At Least 50 Killed in Xinjiang Violence, Officials Say |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/asia/death-toll-in-xinjiang-violence-may-be-higher-than-reported.html |work=The New York Times |date=25 September 2014 |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180112214824/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/world/asia/death-toll-in-xinjiang-violence-may-be-higher-than-reported.html |archive-date=12 January 2018 |url-status=live }}

On 12 October, four Uyghurs armed with knives and explosives attacked a farmers' market in Xinjiang. According to police, 22 people died (including police officers and the attackers).{{cite news |url = http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/attack-10182014194433.html |title=22 Killed in Farmers' Market Attack in Xinjiang's Kashgar Prefecture |publisher=Radio Free Asia |date=18 October 2014 |access-date=6 November 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141112201120/http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/attack-10182014194433.html |archive-date=12 November 2014 |url-status=live }}

On 29 November, 15 people were killed and 14 injured in a Shache County attack. Eleven of the killed were Uyghur militants.{{cite news |url = https://news.yahoo.com/fifteen-killed-terrorist-attack-chinas-xinjiang-state-media-100747830.html |title=China says 15 killed in "terrorist attack" in Xinjiang |work=Yahoo! News |via=Agence-France Presse |date=29 November 2014 |access-date=15 January 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082620/http://news.yahoo.com/fifteen-killed-terrorist-attack-chinas-xinjiang-state-media-100747830.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live }}

On 18 September 2015, in Aksu, an unidentified group of knife-wielding terrorists attacked sleeping workers at a coal mine and killed as many as 50 people, before fleeing into the mountains. The Turkistan Islamic Party has claimed responsibility for the attack.{{cite magazine |author= Abu Mansour Al-Gharib |year=2016 |orig-year= رجب – 1437 هـ |script-title=ar:عملية أظهرت عجز سلطات الصين |language=ar |trans-title=Operation showed the inability of the Chinese authorities |url= https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/turkistacc84n-al-islacc84micc84yyah-magazine-19.pdf |magazine=تركستان الإسلامية [Islamic Turkistan] |issue=19 |page=25 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160925210232/https://azelin.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/turkistacc84n-al-islacc84micc84yyah-magazine-19.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2016 |url-status=dead }} On 18 November, a 56-day manhunt for the attackers concluded with security forces killing 28 assailants. One member of the gang surrendered to authorities.{{cite news |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34863059 |title=Chinese forces 'kill 17 in Xinjiang' after colliery attack |work=BBC News |date=18 November 2015 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180615224007/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34863059 |archive-date=15 June 2018 |url-status=live}}

The Bangkok bombing is suspected to have been carried out by the Turkish ultranationalist organisation known as the Grey Wolves in response to Thailand's deportation of 100 Uyghur asylum-seekers back to China. A Turkish man was arrested by Thai police in connection with the bombing and bomb-making materials were found in his apartment.{{cite news |last=Murdoch |first=Lindsay |date=30 August 2015 |title=Bangkok bombing: Who are the Turkish terrorist group the Grey Wolves? |url = http://www.smh.com.au/world/bangkok-bombing-who-are-the-turkish-terrorist-group-the-grey-wolves-20150830-gjavjz.html |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |access-date=30 August 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150830033643/http://www.smh.com.au/world/bangkok-bombing-who-are-the-turkish-terrorist-group-the-grey-wolves-20150830-gjavjz.html |archive-date=30 August 2015 |url-status=live }}{{cite magazine |last=Cunningham |first=Susan |date=30 August 2015 |title = Thailand's Shrine Bombing – The Case For Turkey's Grey Wolves |url = https://www.forbes.com/sites/susancunningham/2015/08/24/thailands-shrine-bombing-the-case-for-turkeys-grey-wolves/ |magazine = Forbes Magazine |access-date=18 September 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171010001122/https://www.forbes.com/sites/susancunningham/2015/08/24/thailands-shrine-bombing-the-case-for-turkeys-grey-wolves/ |archive-date=10 October 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=29 August 2015 |title = Police arrest Erawan blast suspect |newspaper=Bangkok Post |url = http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/673552/police-hold-erawan-bomb-suspect }} Due to the terrorist risk and counterfeiting of passports, Uyghur foreigners in Thailand were placed under surveillance by Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon{{cite news |first=Wassana |last=Nanuam |title=Uighur, Chechen tourists placed under surveillance |newspaper=Bangkok Post |date=7 April 2016 |url = http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/924901/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance }}{{cite news |title = Uighur, Chechen tourists placed under surveillance |work=Thailand News |date=7 April 2016 |url = http://www.thailandnews.co/2016/04/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance/ |access-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160407141851/http://www.thailandnews.co/2016/04/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance/ |archive-date=7 April 2016 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Uighur, Chechen tourists placed under surveillance in Thailand |work=Business Standard |agency=Press Trust of India |date=7 April 2016 |url = http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance-in-thailand-116040700648_1.html |access-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160419001442/http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance-in-thailand-116040700648_1.html |archive-date=19 April 2016 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |first=Jaishree |last=Balasubramanian |title=Uighur, Chechen tourists placed under surveillance in Thailand |work=India Today |date=7 April 2016 |agency=Press Trust of India |url = http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance-in-thailand/1/637717.html |access-date=7 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160420021518/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/uighur-chechen-tourists-placed-under-surveillance-in-thailand/1/637717.html |archive-date=20 April 2016 |url-status=live }} and Thai police were placed on alert after the arrival of two Turkish Uyghurs.{{cite news |first=Teeranai |last=Charuvastra |title = Uighur, Chechen Militants in Thailand to Stage Attacks, Memo Warns |work=Khaosod |date=8 April 2016 |url = http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1460112616 |access-date=10 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160419160816/http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1460112616 |archive-date=19 April 2016 |url-status=live }}

On 30 August 2016, Kyrgyzstan's Chinese embassy was struck by a suicide bombing by a Uyghur, according to Kyrgyz news.{{cite magazine |last = O'Grady |first=Siobhán |date=30 August 2016 |title = Questions of Responsibility Loom After Attack on Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan |url = https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/30/questions-of-responsibility-loom-after-attack-on-chinese-embassy-in-kyrgyzstan/ |magazine = Foreign Policy |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170204221521/http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/08/30/questions-of-responsibility-loom-after-attack-on-chinese-embassy-in-kyrgyzstan/ |archive-date=4 February 2017 |url-status=live }} The suicide bomber was the only fatality from the attack. The casualties included wounds suffered by Kyrgyz staff members and did not include Chinese.{{cite news|last=Nechepurenko|first=Ivan|date=30 August 2016|title=Suicide Bomber Attacks Chinese Embassy in Kyrgyzstan|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/world/asia/bishkek-china-embassy-kyrgyzstan.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041314/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/31/world/asia/bishkek-china-embassy-kyrgyzstan.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=live}} A Kyrgyzstan government agency pointed the finger at Nusra allied Syrian based Uyghurs.{{cite news |last=Dzyubenko |first=Olga |title=Kyrgyzstan says Uighur militant groups behind attack on China's embassy |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-kyrgyzstan-blast-china-idUSKCN11C1DK |work=Reuters |date=7 September 2016 |access-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170612111517/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kyrgyzstan-blast-china-idUSKCN11C1DK |archive-date=12 June 2017 |url-status=live}}

Police killed 4 militants who carried out a bombing on 28 December 2016 in Karakax.{{cite news |date=28 December 2016 |title=Five dead in attack in China's Xinjiang |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKBN14H187?il=0 |work=Reuters |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170603222203/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKBN14H187?il=0 |archive-date=3 June 2017 |url-status=live}}

On 14 February 2017, three knife wielding attackers killed five people before being killed by police.{{cite news |date=14 February 2017 |title=Knife-wielding attackers kill five in China's Xinjiang: govt |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-attack-idUSKBN15U02F |work=Reuters |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171014073638/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-attack-idUSKBN15U02F |archive-date=14 October 2017 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=15 February 2017 |title=China knife attack: Eight dead in Xinjiang region |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38977724 |work=BBC News |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180430082335/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38977724 |archive-date=30 April 2018 |url-status=live}}

In the period 2013–2017 there were 330,918 arrests in the province accounting for 7.3% of total arrests in China. This compares to

81,443 arrests in the previous five years. In March 2019, Chinese officials said that they have arrested more than 13,000 militants in Xinjiang since 2014.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKCN1QZ08T|title=China says 13,000 'terrorists' arrested in Xinjiang since 2014|newspaper=Reuters|date=18 March 2019|last1=Blanchard|first1=Ben}}

After Bashar Al-Assad was overthrown on December 7, 2024, the Turkestan Islamic Party threatened to attack China. The CCP "vow[ed] to 'strike down'" the TIP.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/12/13/uyghur-fighters-in-syria-vow-to-come-for-china-next/ Uyghur fighters in Syria vow to come for China next] The Telegraph. Sophia Yan. December 13, 2024[https://www.newsweek.com/china-urges-stability-syria-uyghur-rebels-1999575 China Vows to 'Strike Down' Syria's Victorious Uyghur Rebels Threatening Xi] Newsweek. Tom O'Connor. December 13, 2024

{{Main|Xinjiang internment camps|}}

In 2014, the Chinese government launched the Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism in Xinjiang.{{Cite journal |last1=Trédaniel |first1=Marie |last2=Lee |first2=Pak K. |date=2017-09-18 |title=Explaining the Chinese framing of the "terrorist" violence in Xinjiang: insights from securitization theory |url=https://kar.kent.ac.uk/59699/1/Explaining%20the%20Chinese%20framing%20of%20the%20terrorist%20violence%20in%20Xinjiang%20insights%20from%20securitization%20theory_AM%20version.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Nationalities Papers |language=en |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=177–195 |doi=10.1080/00905992.2017.1351427 |issn=0090-5992 |s2cid=157729459 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427073133/https://kar.kent.ac.uk/59699/1/Explaining%20the%20Chinese%20framing%20of%20the%20terrorist%20violence%20in%20Xinjiang%20insights%20from%20securitization%20theory_AM%20version.pdf |archive-date=2019-04-27 |access-date=2019-08-18}} Since that year, the government has pursued a policy which has led to more than one million Muslims (the majority of them Uyghurs) being held in secretive detention camps without any legal process{{Cite web |last=Adam Withnall |date=5 July 2019 |title='Cultural genocide': China separating thousands of Muslim children from parents for 'thought education' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-muslim-children-uighur-family-separation-thought-education-a8989296.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422051855/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-muslim-children-uighur-family-separation-thought-education-a8989296.html |archive-date=22 April 2020 |access-date=27 April 2020 |work=The Independent}}{{Cite web|date=10 July 2019|title=UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070044/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|archive-date=17 December 2019|access-date=18 December 2020|publisher=Human Rights Watch}} in what has become the largest-scale detention of ethnic and religious minorities since the Holocaust.{{Cite news|last1=Rajagopalan|first1=Megha|last2=Killing|first2=Alison|date=3 December 2020|title=Inside A Xinjiang Detention Camp|work=BuzzFeed News|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/meghara/inside-xinjiang-detention-camp|access-date=}} Critics of the policy have described it as the sinicization of Xinjiang and called it an ethnocide or cultural genocide,{{Cite news |last=Catherine Philp |date=17 December 2019 |title='Cultural genocide' for repressed minority of Uighurs |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/cultural-genocide-for-repressed-minority-of-uighurs-bp0w6dw89 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425012712/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cultural-genocide-for-repressed-minority-of-uighurs-bp0w6dw89 |archive-date=25 April 2020 |access-date=27 April 2020 |work=The Times}}{{Cite news |last1=Zand |first1=Bernhard |date=28 November 2019 |title=China's Oppression of the Uighurs 'The Equivalent of Cultural Genocide' |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/chinese-oppression-of-the-uighurs-like-cultural-genocide-a-1298171.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121105242/https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/chinese-oppression-of-the-uighurs-like-cultural-genocide-a-1298171.html |archive-date=21 January 2020 |access-date=27 April 2020 |work=Der Spiegel}}{{Cite news|date=12 September 2019|title=Fear and oppression in Xinjiang: China's war on Uighur culture|url=https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414154451/https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77|archive-date=14 April 2020|access-date=27 April 2020|work=Financial Times|last1=Shepherd|first1=Christian}}{{Cite journal |last1=Finnegan |first1=Ciara |year=2020 |title=The Uyghur Minority in China: A Case Study of Cultural Genocide, Minority Rights and the Insufficiency of the International Legal Framework in Preventing State-Imposed Extinction |journal=Laws |volume=9 |page=1 |doi=10.3390/laws9010001 |via=MDPI |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|date=Summer 2019|title=China's crime against Uyghurs is a form of genocide|journal=Fourth World Journal |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=76–88 |url=https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=508909415820545;res=IELIAC|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201093948/https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=508909415820545;res=IELIAC|archive-date=2020-02-01|access-date=2020-04-27|last1=Fallon |first1=Joseph E. }} with many NGOs, human rights activists, government officials, and the U.S. government calling it a genocide.{{cite news|last=Carbert|first=Michelle|date=20 July 2020|title=Activists urge Canada to recognize Uyghur abuses as genocide, impose sanctions on Chinese officials|work=The Globe and Mail|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-activists-urge-canada-to-recognize-uyghur-abuses-as-genocide-impose/|url-status=live|access-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101021840/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-activists-urge-canada-to-recognize-uyghur-abuses-as-genocide-impose/|archive-date=1 November 2020}}{{cite news|last=Steger|first=Isabella|date=20 August 2020|title=On Xinjiang, even those wary of Holocaust comparisons are reaching for the word "genocide"|work=Quartz|url=https://qz.com/1892791/a-consensus-is-growing-that-chinas-uyhgurs-face-genocide/|url-status=live|access-date=20 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023143016/https://qz.com/1892791/a-consensus-is-growing-that-chinas-uyhgurs-face-genocide/|archive-date=23 October 2020}}{{Cite web|date=October 27, 2020|title=Menendez, Cornyn Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Designate Uyghur Human Rights Abuses by China as Genocide|url=https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/ranking/release/menendez-cornyn-introduce-bipartisan-resolution-to-designate-uyghur-human-rights-abuses-by-china-as-genocide|access-date=December 18, 2020|work=foreign.senate.gov|publisher=United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations}}{{Cite web|date=December 3, 2020|title=Blackburn Responds to Offensive Comments by Chinese State Media|url=https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2020/12/blackburn-responds-to-offensive-comments-by-chinese-state-media/accb2b20-54e8-4926-a643-5f2a1cde31fa|access-date=December 18, 2020|publisher=U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee}}{{Cite web|last=Alecci|first=Scilla|date=October 14, 2020|title=British lawmakers call for sanctions over Uighur human rights abuses|url=https://www.icij.org/investigations/china-cables/british-lawmakers-call-for-sanctions-over-uighur-human-rights-abuses/|access-date=December 18, 2020|publisher=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists}}{{Cite web|date=October 21, 2020|title=Committee News Release – October 21, 2020 – SDIR (43–2)|url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-2/SDIR/news-release/10903199|access-date=December 18, 2020|publisher=House of Commons of Canada}}{{Cite news|last=Pompeo|first=Mike|date=2021-01-19|title=Genocide in Xinjiang|language=en|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/genocide-in-xinjiang-11611078180|access-date=2021-01-19}}{{Cite web|last=Gordon|first=Michael R.|date=19 January 2021|title=U.S. Says China Is Committing 'Genocide' Against Uighur Muslims|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-declares-chinas-treatment-of-uighur-muslims-to-be-genocide-11611081555|access-date=19 January 2021|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}}

Critics of the programme have highlighted the concentration of Uyghurs in state-sponsored internment camps,{{Cite web |last=Danilova |first=Maria |date=2018-11-27 |title=Woman describes torture, beatings in Chinese detention camp |url=https://apnews.com/61cdf7f5dfc34575aa643523b3c6b3fe |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213063324/https://apnews.com/61cdf7f5dfc34575aa643523b3c6b3fe |archive-date=2019-12-13 |access-date=2019-12-02 |website=Associated Press}}{{Cite news|last=Stewart|first=Phil|date=2019-05-04|title=China putting minority Muslims in 'concentration camps,' U.S. says|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-concentrationcamps-idUSKCN1S925K|url-status=live|access-date=2019-12-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208091303/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-concentrationcamps-idUSKCN1S925K|archive-date=2019-12-08}} suppression of Uyghur religious practices,{{Cite journal |last=Congressional Research Service |date=18 June 2019 |title=Uyghurs in China |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10281.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Congressional Research Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218075723/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10281.pdf |archive-date=18 December 2020 |access-date=2 December 2019}}{{Cite news|last=Blackwell|first=Tom|date=25 September 2019|title=Canadian went to China to debunk reports of anti-Muslim repression, but was 'shocked' by treatment of Uyghurs|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canadian-went-to-china-to-debunk-reports-of-anti-muslim-repression-but-was-shocked-by-treatment-of-uyghurs|access-date=2019-12-02|website=National Post|language=en-CA}} political indoctrination,{{Cite web|date=September 9, 2018|title=Muslim minority in China's Xinjiang face 'political indoctrination': Human Rights Watch|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-rights/muslim-minority-in-chinas-xinjiang-face-political-indoctrination-human-rights-watch-idUSKCN1LQ01F|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109032307/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-rights/muslim-minority-in-chinas-xinjiang-face-political-indoctrination-human-rights-watch-idUSKCN1LQ01F|archive-date=9 November 2020|access-date=December 18, 2020|work=Reuters}} severe ill-treatment, and testimonials of alleged human rights abuses including forced sterilization and contraception.{{Cite web |last1=Enos |first1=Olivia |last2=Kim |first2=Yujin |date=29 August 2019 |title=China's Forced Sterilization of Uighur Women Is Cultural Genocide |url=https://www.heritage.org/asia/commentary/chinas-forced-sterilization-uighur-women-cultural-genocide |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202230646/https://www.heritage.org/asia/commentary/chinas-forced-sterilization-uighur-women-cultural-genocide |archive-date=2 December 2019 |access-date=2 December 2019 |website=The Heritage Foundation}}{{Cite news|date=2020-06-29|title=China 'using birth control' to suppress Uighurs|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713|url-status=live|access-date=2020-07-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629222610/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713|archive-date=2020-06-29}} The Associated Press reported that from 2015 to 2018, birth rates in the mostly Uyghur regions of Hotan and Kashgar plunged by more than 60%.{{Cite web|date=June 28, 2020|title=China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization|url=https://apnews.com/article/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216200613/https://apnews.com/article/269b3de1af34e17c1941a514f78d764c|archive-date=16 December 2020|access-date=December 18, 2020|work=Associated Press}} In the same period, the birth rate of the whole country decreased by 9.69%, from 12.07 to 10.9 per 1,000 people.{{Cite web|title=Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) – China|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.CBRT.IN?start=2015&end=2018&locations=CN|access-date=2 January 2021|publisher=The World Bank}} According to a fax received by CNN, Chinese officials acknowledged that birth rates dropped by almost a third in Xinjiang in 2018, but they denied reports of forced sterilization and genocide.{{cite news |author=Ivan Watson, Rebecca Wright and Ben Westcott |date=21 September 2020 |title=Xinjiang government confirms huge birth rate drop but denies forced sterilization of women |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/21/asia/xinjiang-china-response-sterilization-intl-hnk/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927111925/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/09/21/asia/xinjiang-china-response-sterilization-intl-hnk/index.html |archive-date=27 September 2020 |access-date=26 September 2020 |work=CNN International}} Birth rates have continued to plummet in Xinjiang, falling nearly 24% in 2019 alone when compared to just 4.2% nationwide. According to The Economist, China paid ethnic minority women who were exempt from the standard family planning size limits a lump sum then annual allowance to agree to undergo tubal ligation or IUD implantation after three children in an attempt to keep birthrates to the nationwide standard without imposing strict limits on ethnic minority family sizes. In 2017 the standard rural limit was applied to Uyghurs which lowered their allowed births to the standard for Han Chinese (which had increased from two to three children in 2016).

In 2021, Shirzat Bawudun, the former head of the Xinjiang department of justice, and Sattar Sawut, the former head of the Xinjiang education department, were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on separatism and bribery charges.{{cite news |date=7 April 2021 |title=China sentences Uyghur former government officials to death for 'separatist activities' |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/uyghur-xinjiang-china-government-officials-death-sentence-14572164 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505134912/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/uyghur-xinjiang-china-government-officials-death-sentence-14572164 |archive-date=5 May 2021 |publisher=CNA |agency=AFP}} Such a sentence is usually commuted to life imprisonment.{{Cite web |date=2021-04-07 |title=China Sentences Two Ex-Xinjiang Officials to Death on Separatism Charges |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_voa-news-china_china-sentences-two-ex-xinjiang-officials-death-separatism-charges/6204245.html |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=Voice of America |language=en}} Three other educators were sentenced to life in prison.{{cite web |title=China condemns 2 ex-Xinjiang officials in separatism cases |url=https://apnews.com/article/world-news-race-and-ethnicity-beijing-china-national-security-e4d7a915a2e3ebb6c6f50778a2aec81a |website=apnews.com |date=7 April 2021 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=10 April 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Albert |first1=Eleanor |title=China's Hard and Soft Lines on Xinjiang |url=https://thediplomat.com/2021/04/chinas-hard-and-soft-lines-on-xinjiang/ |access-date=10 April 2021 |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat}}

{{Further|Turkistan Islamic Party}}

The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is an Islamic extremist terrorist organisation seeking the expulsion of China from "East Turkestan".{{cite web |url = http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefatip0409-3.pdf |first=Shaykh |last=Bashir |title = Why Are We Fighting China? |date=1 July 2008 |access-date=7 August 2010 |publisher=NEFA Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120609143149/http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/FeaturedDocs/nefatip0409-3.pdf |archive-date=9 June 2012 }} Since its emergence in 2007 it has claimed responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks, and the Chinese government accuses it of over 200, resulting in 162 deaths and over 440 injuries.{{cite web |title=The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) |url = https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/east-turkestan-islamic-movement-etim |website=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=11 September 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180911191452/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/east-turkestan-islamic-movement-etim |archive-date=11 September 2018 |url-status=live}} Hundreds of Uyghurs are thought to reside in Pakistan and Afghanistan and to have fought alongside extremist groups in conflicts such as the Syrian Civil War.{{cite web |last=Weiss |first=Caleb |date=30 April 2015 |title=Turkistan Islamic Party had significant role in recent Idlib offensive |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/04/turkistan-islamic-party-had-significant-role-recent-idlib-offensive.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721085324/http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/04/turkistan-islamic-party-had-significant-role-recent-idlib-offensive.php |archive-date=21 July 2015 |access-date=12 September 2015 |website=The Long War Journal}} However, the exact size of the Turkistan Islamic Party remains unknown and some experts dispute its ability to orchestrate attacks in China, or that it still exists as a cohesive group.{{cite news|last1=Mehsud|first1=Saud|last2=Golovnina|first2=Maria|date=14 March 2014|title=From his Pakistan hideout, Uighur leader vows revenge on China|work=Reuters|location=DERA ISMAIL KHAN/ISLAMABAD|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-uighurs-idUSBREA2D0PF20140314|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819205613/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-uighurs-idUSBREA2D0PF20140314|archive-date=19 August 2017}}{{cite news |last=Johnson |first = Ian |title = Q. and A.: Nick Holdstock on Xinjiang and 'China's Forgotten People' |url = https://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/q-and-a-nick-holdstock-on-xinjiang-and-chinas-forgotten-people |access-date=11 September 2018 |department=Sinosphere Blog |newspaper = New York Times |date = 13 August 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150819232107/http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/q-and-a-nick-holdstock-on-xinjiang-and-chinas-forgotten-people/ |archive-date=19 August 2015 |url-status=live }}

The TIP is often assumed to be the same as the earlier East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which changed its name to the Turkistan Islamic Party after their leader at the time, Hasan Mahsum, was killed by Pakistani forces in 2003.{{cite news |last1=Botobekov |first1=Uran |title=Al-Qaeda, the Turkestan Islamic Party, and the Bishkek Chinese Embassy Bombing |url=https://thediplomat.com/2016/09/al-qaeda-the-turkestan-islamic-party-and-the-bishkek-chinese-embassy-bombing/ |access-date=3 December 2022 |date=29 September 2016}}{{cite web |title=The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/east-turkestan-islamic-movement-etim |website=Council on Foreign Relations |access-date=3 December 2022}}

The TIP are believed to have links to al-Qaeda and affiliated groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,{{cite journal |first=Jacob |last=Zenn |title=Beijing, Kunming, Urumqi and Guangzhou: The Changing Landscape of Anti-Chinese Jihadists |journal=China Brief |volume=14 |issue=10 |date=23 May 2014 |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |url= https://jamestown.org/program/beijing-kunming-urumqi-and-guangzhou-the-changing-landscape-of-anti-chinese-jihadists/ |access-date=2021-12-02 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211008171646/https://jamestown.org/program/beijing-kunming-urumqi-and-guangzhou-the-changing-landscape-of-anti-chinese-jihadists/ |archive-date=2021-10-08 |url-status=live }} and the Pakistani Taliban.{{sfnp|Acharya|Gunaratna|Pengxin|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FVDIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 2]}} Philip B. K. Potter writes that despite the fact that "throughout the 1990s, Chinese authorities went to great lengths to publicly link organizations active in Xinjiang—particularly the ETIM—to al-Qaeda [...] the best information indicates that prior to 2001, the relationship included some training and funding but relatively little operational cooperation."{{cite journal |first=Philip B. K. |last=Potter |title = Terrorism in China: Growing Threats with Global Implications |journal=Strategic Studies Quarterly |date=Winter 2013 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=71–74 |url = https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-07_Issue-4/2013winter-Potter.pdf |access-date=9 June 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143728/http://www.airuniversity.af.mil/Portals/10/SSQ/documents/Volume-07_Issue-4/2013winter-Potter.pdf |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live }}{{cite report |url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/65479.pdf |title = Foreign terrorist organizations |page=237 |publisher=U.S. State Department |access-date=21 October 2015 }} Meanwhile, specific incidents were downplayed by Chinese authorities as isolated criminal acts.{{cite news |url = https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/china-evolution-etim |title=China: The Evolution of ETIM |publisher=Stratfor |date=13 May 2008 |access-date=10 June 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143323/https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/china-evolution-etim |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live }} However, in 1998 the group's headquarters were moved to Kabul, in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, while "China's ongoing security crackdown in Xinjiang has forced the most militant Uyghur separatists into volatile neighboring countries, such as Pakistan," Potter writes, "where they are forging strategic alliances with, and even leading, jihadist factions affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban." The East Turkestan Islamic Movement dropped "East" from its name as it increased its domain. The U.S. State Department have listed them as a terrorist organisation since 2002,{{cite web |title = Individuals and Entities Designated by the State Department Under E.O. 13224 |url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/143210.htm |publisher=U.S. State Department |access-date=4 August 2016 }} and as having received "training and financial assistance" from al-Qaeda. In October 2020, this designation was lifted.{{cite web |last1=Pompeo |first1=Michael |title=In the Matter of the Designation of the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement Also Known as ETIM as a "Terrorist Organization" Pursuant to Section 212(a)(3)(B)(vi)(II) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as Amended |url=https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-24620 |website=Federal Register |date=5 November 2020 |publisher=US Department of State |access-date=18 December 2020}}

A number of members of al-Qaeda have expressed support for the TIP, Xinjiang independence, and/or jihad against China. They include Mustafa Setmariam Nasar,{{cite book |url = https://archive.org/stream/MuslimsInCentralAsiaAndTheComingBattleOfIslam/MuslimsInCentralAsiaAndTheComingBattleOfIslam_djvu.txt |title = Muslims in Central Asia and The Coming Battle of Islam |author=Mustafa Setmariam Nasar (aliases Abu Musab al-Suri and Umar Abd al-Hakim) |year=1999 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160119223112/https://archive.org/stream/MuslimsInCentralAsiaAndTheComingBattleOfIslam/MuslimsInCentralAsiaAndTheComingBattleOfIslam_djvu.txt |archive-date=19 January 2016 |url-status=live }} Abu Yahya al-Libi,{{cite web |url = http://raffaellopantucci.com/2011/06/24/turkistan-islamic-party-video-attempts-to-explain-uyghur-militancy-to-chinese/ |title=Turkistan Islamic Party Video Attempts to Explain Uyghur Militancy to Chinese |publisher=Raffaello Pantucci |date=24 June 2011 |access-date=13 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160617060802/https://raffaellopantucci.com/2011/06/24/turkistan-islamic-party-video-attempts-to-explain-uyghur-militancy-to-chinese/ |archive-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last=Zenn |first=Jacob |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=42944&no_cache=1 |title=An Overview of Chinese Fighters and Anti-Chinese Militant Groups in Syria and Iraq |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |date=10 October 2014 |journal=China Brief |volume=14 |issue=19 |access-date=13 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160625094503/http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=42944&no_cache=1 |archive-date=25 June 2016 |url-status=live }} and late al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri who has on multiple occasions issued statements naming Xinjiang (calling it "East Turkestan") as one of the "battlegrounds" of "jihad to liberate every span of land of the Muslims that has been usurped and violated."{{cite news |date=17 September 2013 |title=Zawahiri endorses war in Kashmir but says don't hit Hindus in 'Muslim lands' |agency=Reuters |work=The Indian Express |url = http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/in-new-guidelines-zawahiri-endorses-war-in-kashmir-but-says-dont-hit-hindus-abroad/1170007/ |access-date=13 August 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160124140420/http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/in-new-guidelines-zawahiri-endorses-war-in-kashmir-but-says-dont-hit-hindus-abroad/1170007/ |archive-date=24 January 2016 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = http://jihadintel.meforum.org/176/ayman-al-zawahiri-pledge-of-allegiance-to-new |title=Ayman al-Zawahiri's Pledge of Allegiance to New Taliban Leader Mullah Muhammad Mansour |last1=Al-Tamimi |first1=Aymenn Jawad |date=13 August 2015 |website=Middle East Forum |access-date=13 August 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150816003156/http://jihadintel.meforum.org/176/ayman-al-zawahiri-pledge-of-allegiance-to-new |archive-date=16 August 2015 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=2 November 2015 |title=Al-Qaeda urges fight against West and Russia |url = http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/02/-Al-Qaeda-s-Zawahiri-urges-militant-unity-against-Russia.html |publisher=Al Arabiya |agency=Reuters |location=Cairo |access-date=2 November 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151103195210/http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2015/11/02/-Al-Qaeda-s-Zawahiri-urges-militant-unity-against-Russia.html |archive-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |first1=Ali |last1=Abdelaty |last2=Knecht |first2=Eric |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=Alison |date=1 November 2015 |title = Al Qaeda chief urges militant unity against Russia in Syria |url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-qaeda-iduskcn0sq2f920151101 |work = Reuters |access-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151120114416/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/01/us-mideast-crisis-qaeda-idUSKCN0SQ2F920151101 |archive-date=20 November 2015 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Shih |first=Gerry |date=10 September 2016 |title=Rising Uighur militancy changes security landscape for China |url = https://apnews.com/cd7fdd84e95143a88f87d566ac5185b5 |work=Associated Press |access-date=9 June 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140904/https://apnews.com/cd7fdd84e95143a88f87d566ac5185b5 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |url-status=live }} Additionally, the al-Qaeda aligned al-Fajr Media Center distributes TIP promotional material.{{cite web |url = https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Articles-Analysis/may09-sp-61553380.html |title=TIP Enters Jihadist Mainstream |publisher=SITE Intel Group |date=15 October 2010 |access-date=13 May 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150511211953/https://news.siteintelgroup.com/Articles-Analysis/may09-sp-61553380.html |archive-date=11 May 2015 |url-status=live }}

Andrew McGregor, writing for the Jamestown Foundation, opines that "though there is no question a small group of Uyghur militants fought alongside their Taliban hosts against the Northern Alliance [...] the scores of terrorists Beijing claimed that Bin Laden was sending to China in 2002 never materialized" and that "the TIP's 'strategy' of making loud and alarming threats (attacks on the Olympics, use of biological and chemical weapons, etc.) without any operational follow-up has been enormously effective in promoting China's efforts to characterise Uyghur separatists as terrorists."{{cite journal |title = Will Xinjiang's Turkistani Islamic Party Survive the Drone Missile Death of its Leader? |date=11 March 2010 |journal=Terrorism Monitor |volume=8 |issue=10 |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |first=Andrew |last=McGregor |url = http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=36144&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=457&no_cache=1#.VwuxPvkrJhE |access-date=11 April 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160514005040/http://www.jamestown.org/programs/tm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=36144&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=457&no_cache=1#.VwuxPvkrJhE |archive-date=14 May 2016 |url-status=live }}

File:2016 Czech Demonstration Against Communist party China and its dictator in Prague with National Flags of Tibet & East Turkestan 反中示威與圖博&東土耳其斯坦國旗在捷克.jpg, Czech Republic carrying Tibetan and East Turkestan flags, 29 March 2016]]

In October 2018 and December 2019, Chinese state media aired two documentaries on the conflict and the purported necessity of the internment camps, which reportedly drew mixed reactions on Chinese social media.{{cite web|title=China diary: Spare no effort to paint a picture |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/china-diary-spare-no-effort-to-paint-a-picture/cid/1725510 |access-date=12 December 2019 |website=www.telegraphindia.com}}{{cite web|last=Koetse|first=Manya|title=CCTV Airs Program on Xinjiang's 'Vocational Training Centers': Criticism & Weibo Responses|date=19 October 2018 |url=https://www.whatsonweibo.com/cctv-airs-program-on-xinjiangs-vocational-training-centers-criticism-weibo-responses/|access-date=12 December 2019}}

The East Turkestan Islamic Movement has been recognised as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations,{{Cite web|title=Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement |url=https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/eastern-turkistan-islamic-movement|access-date=12 August 2020|website=www.un.org}} the United States,{{cite news|last=Cronk|first=Terri Moon|date=7 February 2018|title=U.S. Forces Strike Taliban, East Turkestan Islamic Movement Training Sites|website=U.S. Department of Defense|url=https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1435247/us-forces-strike-taliban-east-turkestan-islamic-movement-training-sites/|url-status=live|access-date=8 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208030647/https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1435247/us-forces-strike-taliban-east-turkestan-islamic-movement-training-sites/|archive-date=8 February 2018}} the European Union,{{cite web|title=Consolidated Text: 32002R0881 — EN — 10.10.2015|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02002R0881-20151010&from=EN|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211131757/https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:02002R0881-20151010&from=EN|archive-date=11 December 2018|access-date=25 August 2016|website=eur-lex.europa.eu}} Russia,{{cite web|date=31 January 2017|title=هؤلاء انغماسيو أردوغان الذين يستوردهم من الصين – عربي أونلاين|url=http://3arabionline.com/?page=article&id=20680|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814135647/http://3arabionline.com/?page=article&id=20680|archive-date=14 August 2017|access-date=29 August 2017|website=3arabionline.com}} the United Kingdom,{{cite news |last1=Martina |first1=Michael |last2=Blanchard |first2=Ben |last3=Spring |first3=Jake |date=20 July 2016 |title=Britain adds Chinese militant group to terror list |work=Reuters |editor1-last=Ruwitch |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Macfie |editor2-first=Nick |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-britain-security-idUSKCN1000PT |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814155741/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-britain-security-idUSKCN1000PT|archive-date=14 August 2017}}{{Cite report |date=17 July 2020 |publisher=Home Office |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/538297/20160715-Proscription-website-update.pdf |title=PROSCRIBED TERRORIST ORGANISATIONS |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026110457/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/538297/20160715-Proscription-website-update.pdf|archive-date=26 October 2016|access-date=27 July 2016}} Kyrgyzstan,{{efn|The Eastern Turkistan Islamic Party, Organization for Freeing Eastern Turkistan and the Islamic Party of Turkistan were outlawed by Kyrgyzstan's Lenin District Court and its Supreme Court in November 2003.{{sfnp|Karagiannis|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vmKNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 67–]}}{{sfnp|Karagiannis|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=vmKNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA112 112–]}}}}{{cite magazine |last=Ansari|first=Massoud|date=3 August 2007|title=The New Face of Jihad |url=http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsAug2007/specrep3aug2007.htm |magazine=Newsline|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610031612/http://www.newsline.com.pk/NewsAug2007/specrep3aug2007.htm|archive-date=10 June 2009|access-date=31 July 2007|url-status=dead}}{{cite book |last=Lansford|first=Tom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdWTBwAAQBAJ&q=list+uzbekistan+organizations+turkestan&pg=PA818|title=Political Handbook of the World 2015 |date=24 March 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4833-7158-0|pages=818–}} Kazakhstan,{{harvp|American Foreign Policy Council|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9fQ3AwAAQBAJ&dq=kazakhstan+designated+organizations+islamic+party&pg=PA673 673–]}}

• {{harvp|Lovelace|2008|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=K3LnCwAAQBAJ&dq=kazakhstan+designated+organizations+islamic+party&pg=PA168 168–]}}
• {{harvp|Omelicheva|2010|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ycYtCgAAQBAJ&dq=kazakhstan+designated+organizations+islamic+party&pg=PA131 131–]}}
• {{harvp|Reed|Raschke|2010|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5I2b_hrJO8sC&dq=kazakhstan+designated+organizations+islamic+party&pg=PA206 206–]}} Malaysia,{{Cite web|url=http://www.moha.gov.my/images/maklumat_bahagian/KK/kdndomestic.pdf|title=Anti Money, Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing And Proceeds Of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 / List Of Individuals, Entities And Other Groups And Undertakings Declared By The Minister Of Home Affairs As Specified Entity Under Section 66b(1)|access-date=12 August 2020|archive-date=9 October 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.moha.gov.my/images/maklumat_bahagian/KK/kdndomestic.pdf|url-status=dead}} Pakistan,{{cite web|date=24 October 2013|title=Three groups active in Xinjiang banned – Pakistan |url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1051477/three-groups-active-in-xinjiang-banned|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161117162526/http://www.dawn.com/news/1051477/three-groups-active-in-xinjiang-banned |archive-date=17 November 2016|access-date=29 August 2017 |website=Dawn.Com}} Turkey,{{cite web|date=3 August 2017|title=Turkey lists "E. Turkestan Islamic Movement" as terrorists – People's Daily Online |url=http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0803/c90883-9250745.html |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170807152808/http://en.people.cn/n3/2017/0803/c90883-9250745.html |archive-date=7 August 2017 |access-date=29 August 2017 |website=En.people.cn}}{{Cite web |title=Turkey-China Relations: From "Strategic Cooperation" to "Strategic Partnership"? |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/turkey-china-relations-strategic-cooperation-strategic-partnership |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191231131506/https://www.mei.edu/publications/turkey-china-relations-strategic-cooperation-strategic-partnership|archive-date=31 December 2019|url-status=live|access-date=31 December 2019|website=Middle East Institute}} and the United Arab Emirates.{{cite web |title=List of groups designated terrorist organisations by the UAE |work=The National (Abu Dhabi) |date=16 November 2014 |url=http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/list-of-groups-designated-terrorist-organisations-by-the-uae |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150506021530/http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/list-of-groups-designated-terrorist-organisations-by-the-uae|archive-date=6 May 2015 |url-status=live|access-date=19 May 2015}}
• {{cite news|date=15 November 2014|script-title=ar:مجلس الوزراء يعتمد قائمة التنظيمات الإرهابية |language=ar |trans-title=The Cabinet approves the list of terrorist organisations|agency=Emirates News Agency (WAM) وكالة أنباء الإمارات |url=http://www.wam.ae/ar/news/emirates-arab-international/1395272465559.html |url-status=dead |access-date=16 November 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141117230142/http://www.wam.ae/ar/news/emirates-arab-international/1395272465559.html |archive-date=17 November 2014|title= }}
• {{cite news|date=15 November 2014|title=UAE cabinet endorses new list of terrorist groups|newspaper=Kuwait News Agency |url= https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2408700&Language=en |access-date=16 November 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141129034608/https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2408700&Language=en |archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite news|date=15 November 2014|title=UAE blacklists 5 Pakistani groups among 83 as 'militant organisations|newspaper=The Express Tribune|agency=AFP |url= http://tribune.com.pk/story/791818/uae-blacklists-6-pakistani-groups-among-80-as-militant-organisations/|url-status=live|access-date=16 November 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141118025426/http://tribune.com.pk/story/791818/uae-blacklists-6-pakistani-groups-among-80-as-militant-organisations/|archive-date=18 November 2014}}
• {{cite web |title=UAE Cabinet approves list of designated terrorist organisations, groups |date=15 November 2014 |agency=Emirates News Agency |url=https://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates-international/1395272478814.html |access-date=10 February 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160130052552/http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates-international/1395272478814.html |archive-date=30 January 2016 |url-status=dead}} It is also subject to UN sanctions by the Security Council.{{cite web|date=April 2007 |title=Governance Asia-Pacific Watch |url= http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan025885.htm |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070824082345/http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan025885.htm|archive-date=24 August 2007|access-date=23 August 2007|publisher=United Nations}}

In July 2019, 22 countries issued a joint letter to the 41st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), condemning China's mass detention of Uyghurs and other minorities, calling upon China to "refrain from the arbitrary detention and restrictions on freedom of movement of Uyghurs, and other Muslim and minority communities in Xinjiang".{{Cite web|date=10 July 2019|title=UN: Unprecedented Joint Call for China to End Xinjiang Abuses|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217070044/https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/10/un-unprecedented-joint-call-china-end-xinjiang-abuses|archive-date=17 December 2019|access-date=5 December 2019|website=Human Rights Watch}}

In the same UNHRC session, 50 countries issued a joint letter supporting China's Xinjiang policies,{{Cite web |title=Letter to UNHRC |url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G19/240/77/PDF/G1924077.pdf?OpenElement |access-date=12 August 2020 |website=United Nations Human Rights Council}}{{Cite web|title=Ambassadors from 50 countries voice support to China's position on issues related to Xinjiang – Xinhua {{!}} English.news.cn|url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/27/c_138263116.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727144158/http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/27/c_138263116.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=27 July 2019|access-date=12 August 2020|website=www.xinhuanet.com}} criticising the practice of "politicizing human rights issues". The letter stated, "China has invited a number of diplomats, international organizations officials and journalist to Xinjiang" and that "what they saw and heard in Xinjiang completely contradicted what was reported in the media."

In October 2019, 23 countries issued a joint statement at the UN urging China to "uphold its national and international obligations and commitments to respect human rights".

In response, 54 countries issued a joint statement supporting China's Xinjiang policies. The statement "spoke positively of the results of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures in Xinjiang and noted that these measures have effectively safeguarded the basic human rights of people of all ethnic groups."{{Cite web|author=Ben Westcott and Richard Roth|title=China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang divides UN members|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/asia/china-xinjiang-united-nations-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=12 August 2020|website=CNN|date=30 October 2019}}{{Cite web|last=张悦|title=Statement at UN supports China on Xinjiang|url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201910/31/WS5db9ce19a310cf3e3557486d.html|access-date=12 August 2020|website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}

UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet met with Xinjiang officials in May 2022 to raise "concerns about the application of counter-terrorism and de-radicalisation measures and their broad application".{{Cite web |date=28 May 2022 |title=Statement by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet after official visit to China |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/05/statement-un-high-commissioner-human-rights-michelle-bachelet-after-official |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=OHCHR |language=en}} The World Uyghur Congress and the Washington D.C.-based Campaign for Uyghurs accused Bachelet of parroting Chinese talking points, urging her to resign,{{Cite web |date=2022-05-31 |title=Uyghur groups urge resignation of UN rights chief for 'Potemkin-style' Xinjiang tour |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/michelle-bachelet-05312022171641.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Radio Free Asia |language=en}} and Bachelet announced in June 2022 that she would step down from her role as UN human rights chief.{{Cite web |date=2022-06-16 |title=Activists Welcome UN Rights Chief's Decision to Step Down |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/activists-welcome-un-rights-chief-s-decision-to-step-down/6620561.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Voice of America |language=en}} In August 2022, Bachelet released a report concluding that the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang since 2017—in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively—may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/31/china-uyghur-muslims-xinjiang-michelle-bachelet-un|title=China's treatment of Uyghurs may be crime against humanity, says UN human rights chief|date=August 31, 2022|website=the Guardian|access-date=1 September 2022|archive-date=1 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901063704/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/31/china-uyghur-muslims-xinjiang-michelle-bachelet-un|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62744522|title=Torture claims against China Uyghurs credible – UN|date=August 31, 2022|website=BBC News|access-date=1 September 2022|archive-date=1 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901074250/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62744522|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last1=Cumming-Bruce |first1=Nick |last2=Ramzy |first2=Austin |date=2022-08-31 |title=U.N. Says China May Have Committed 'Crimes Against Humanity' in Xinjiang |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/asia/un-china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |access-date=2022-09-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=1 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901014137/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/world/asia/un-china-xinjiang-uyghurs.html |url-status=live }}

The ruling Democratic Progressive Party released a short video on social media urging support for Uyghurs in China and criticising the Chinese government.{{Cite web |date=May 2, 2019 |title=Taiwan Voices Support for Uyghurs in China |url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/05/taiwan-voices-support-for-uyghurs-in-china/ |website=The Diplomat |language=en-US}}

The United States Senate and House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act in September 2019 and December 2019 respectively in reaction to the conflict.{{cite news|last=Lipes|first=Joshua|date=12 September 2019|title=US Senate Passes Legislation to Hold China Accountable for Rights Abuses in Xinjiang|publisher=Radio Free Asia|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/act-09122019132709.html|access-date=5 October 2019}}{{cite news|date=4 December 2019|title=Uyghur bill demanding sanctions on Chinese officials passes US House of Representatives|publisher=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-04/uyghur-bill-passes-us-house-of-representatives/11765684|access-date=4 December 2019}}{{cite news|last1=Westcott|first1=Ben|last2=Byrd|first2=Haley|date=3 December 2019|title=US House passes Uyghur Act calling for tough sanctions on Beijing over Xinjiang camps|publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/03/politics/us-xinjiang-bill-trump-intl-hnk/index.html|access-date=4 December 2019}}{{cite news|date=3 December 2019|title=Anger in China as US House passes Uighur crackdown bill|publisher=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/courts-china-anger-house-passes-uighur-crackdown-bill-191204011217627.html|access-date=4 December 2019}} The bill requires United States President Donald Trump to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act on Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, which would be the first time such sanctions would be imposed on a member of CCP politburo.{{cite news|last1=Lee|first1=Se Young|last2=Brunnstrom|first2=David|date=3 December 2019|title=Trump comments, Uighur bill hurt prospects of U.S.-China deal|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-xinjiang/house-debates-uighur-bill-demanding-sanctions-on-senior-chinese-officials-idUSKBN1Y72P6|access-date=4 December 2019}}{{cite news|last=Flatley|first=Daniel|date=4 December 2019|title=U.S. House Passes Xinjiang Bill, Prompting Threat From China|agency=Bloomberg News|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-03/u-s-house-ramps-up-china-tensions-with-uighur-human-rights-bill|access-date=4 December 2019}} The bill was signed by President Trump into law on 17 June 2020.{{Cite news|last=Lipes|first=Joshua|date=17 June 2020|title=Trump Signs Uyghur Rights Act Into Law, Authorizing Sanctions For Abuses in Xinjiang|work=Radio Free Asia|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/act-06082020173916.html|access-date=17 June 2020}}

Hundreds of Uyghurs fleeing China through Southeast Asia have been deported back by the governments of Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and others, drawing condemnation from the U.S., the UNHCR, and human rights groups.{{Cite web|date=2015-07-09|title=Thailand forcibly sends nearly 100 Uighur Muslims back to China|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/09/thailand-forcibly-sends-nearly-100-uighur-muslims-back-to-china|access-date=2020-11-25|website=The Guardian|language=en}}{{cite news |last=Putz |first=Catherine |title=Thailand Deports 100 Uyghurs to China |url = https://thediplomat.com/2015/07/thailand-deports-100-uyghurs-to-china/ |access-date=11 September 2018 |work=The Diplomat |issue=11 July 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181020065056/https://thediplomat.com/2015/07/thailand-deports-100-uyghurs-to-china/ |archive-date=20 October 2018 |url-status=live }} The U.S. State Department said deported Uyghurs "could face harsh treatment and a lack of due process" while the UNHCR and Human Rights Watch have called the deportations a violation of international law.{{cite news |title = Foreign reaction: Thailand condemned over Uighur |url = https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/618712/foreign-reaction-thailand-condemned-over-uighur |access-date=11 September 2018 |work=Bangkok Post |agency=Associated Press }}{{cite web |title = HRW condemns Malaysia for deporting Uighurs |url = http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refdaily?pass=52fc6fbd5&id=510f64d75 |website=www.unhcr.org |publisher=Agence France Presse |access-date=25 October 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160111221529/http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refdaily?pass=52fc6fbd5&id=510f64d75 |archive-date=11 January 2016 |url-status=live }} Alternatively, countries such as Germany have altered immigration policies to prevent the extradition of Uyghurs back to China, along with Malaysia, as of 2020, following suit.

The role of commercial entities has become increasingly scrutinized, due to the presence of Western enterprises such as Coca-Cola, Volkswagen and Siemens in the region. The major concern here is the fact that the presence of these entities could finance human rights violations and enable the supervision of ethnic minorities by technological cooperation. Moreover, reports have claimed that forced labor prevails in Xinjiang's textile industry.{{cite journal |author1=Alexander Kriebitz |author2=Raphael Max |year=2020 |title=The Xinjiang Case and its Implications from a Business Ethics Perspective |journal=Human Rights Review |location=Muenchen, Germany |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=243–265 |doi=10.1007/s12142-020-00591-0 |s2cid=219509907 |doi-access=free}}

Based on these allegations, international organizations such as the World Bank have begun to reconsider their involvement in Xinjiang, while textile manufacturers including Adidas or Badger Sportswear have withdrawn from Xinjiang. Divestment also concerns collaboration in the realm of AI and digital technologies, and some enterprises have decided to discontinue the handover of technologies and knowledge to Chinese entities involved in the human rights violations in Xinjiang.{{cite news |author1=M. Murgia |author2=C. Shepherd |title=US universities reconsider research links with Chinese AI company |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2f112da0-8e19-11e9-a1c1-51bf8f989972 |newspaper=Financial Times |date=14 June 2019 |access-date=17 November 2020 }}

The Chinese government's primary response to allegations of human rights violations has been to deny the allegations. In the context of the Xinjiang conflict, China is doing just that, while maintaining that they are placing Uyghurs into internment camps to prevent the spread of separatist ideology and terrorist rhetoric in the country.{{Cite news |date=2013-04-24 |title=Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-22278037 |access-date=2024-05-01 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} China has used its membership on the Economic and Social Council's (ECOSOC) NGO Committee to block NGOs advocating on behalf of Uyghurs from being granted UN accreditation.{{Cite web |title=China at the UN: Choking Civil Society |url=https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/china-at-the-un-choking-civil-society/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Journal of Democracy |language=en-US |publication-place=National Endowment for Democracy}}

Due to the increasing tensions between Uyghurs and China, the conflict has also stemmed beyond the Chinese border.{{Cite news|last=Shamil Shams|date=June 1, 2017|title=Istanbul attack: Why China's Uighurs are joining global jihadist groups|work=Deutsche Welle|url=https://www.dw.com/en/istanbul-attack-why-chinas-uighurs-are-joining-global-jihadist-groups/a-37035524}}

During the Syrian civil war, a Chinese hostage was murdered by the Islamic State, which claimed its desire to fight against China over Xinjiang.{{Cite web |last=Blanchard |first=Ben |work=Reuters |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-china-idUSKBN1840UP |title=Syria says up to 5,000 Chinese Uighurs fighting in militant groups |date=11 May 2017 |access-date=24 July 2020}} These militants are also very active in Syria, mostly Idlib, where it formed to be one of the most radical fighting groups in the conflict, which prompted China to take cautious reactions.{{Cite web |url= https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2017/04/22/Many-don-t-speak-Arabic-but-these-Chinese-militants-are-thriving-in-Syria.html |title=Many don't speak Arabic, but these Chinese militants are thriving in Syria |date=22 April 2017 |website=Al Arabiya English |access-date=24 July 2020}}{{Cite web |url= https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2016/03/02/China-s-proxy-war-in-Syria-Revealing-the-role-of-Uighur-fighters-.html |title=China's proxy war in Syria: Revealing the role of Uighur fighters |author=Mohanad Hage Ali |date=2 March 2016 |website=Al Arabiya English |access-date=24 July 2020}}

A number of Uyghur militants have been recruited by ISIS{{Cite news|date=2017-01-05|title=Turkey nightclub attack: Police 'detain several Uighurs' in raids|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-38517847|access-date=2020-11-25}}{{Cite web|last=CHARLIE CAMPBELL|date=July 21, 2016|title=Uighurs Joining ISIS Poses Security Problems for China|url=https://time.com/4416585/isis-islamic-state-china-xinjiang-uighur-xi-jinping/|access-date=2020-11-25|website=Time Magazine}} and have had a presence in Southeast Asia, with some joining Mujahidin Indonesia Timor.{{Cite journal|last=Nodirbek Soliev|date=January 2017|title=The Rise of Uyghur Militancy in and Beyond Southeast Asia: An Assessment|url=https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/4696d1ab-5344-42ce-8696-3294dd481d41|journal=Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses|publisher=S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies}}

In recent decades, China has become an economic behemoth and is far outpacing the US in trade with countries on the continents of Africa and Asia. Due to this newly found 'economic clout', China's neighbors, many of whom hold China as their number one trading partner, do not want to pick a fight, especially if they believe being critical of China will yield negative economic effects for their country. With countries hesitant to critique Chinese actions, the door is left open for arguments supporting China in their assertions.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-24 |title=Why African Nations Are Mostly Silent on China's Rights Record |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/why-african-nations-are-mostly-silent-on-china-s-rights-record-/6760590.html |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Voice of America |language=en}}

• List of ongoing armed conflicts
• Turkic settlement of the Tarim Basin
• Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkism
• Three Evils
• Han chauvinism
• Borders of China

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist|refs=

{{Cite journal |last1=Yellinek |first1=Roie |last2=Chen |first2=Elizabeth |date=December 31, 2019 |title=The "22 vs. 50" Diplomatic Split Between the West and China Over Xinjiang and Human Rights |journal=China Brief |volume=19 |issue=22 |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |url=https://jamestown.org/program/the-22-vs-50-diplomatic-split-between-the-west-and-china-over-xinjiang-and-human-rights/ |access-date=2020-08-12}}

{{Cite news |date=July 2019 |title=Who cares about the Uyghurs |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/images/print-edition/20190727_CNM997.png}}

}}

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{{refend}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

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{{refend}}

{{Library resources box}}

{{Prone to spam|date=August 2017}}

• [https://xinjiang.sppga.ubc.ca/ Xinjiang Documentation Project at the University of British Columbia]
• [https://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/648#bodyftn57 The Uyghurs in Xinjiang – Detailed history of the background to the Xinjiang conflict]

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