Uighur Repression in Xinjiang

Xinjiang, a region in Northwest China, is home to about eleven million Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group. The region is resource-rich and strategically important to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The Xinjiang region boasts close proximity to China’s Central Asian neighbors. In recent years, Chinese authorities have cracked down on Uighur communities. The Chinese government asserts that Uighurs hold extremist and separatist views. More than one million Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang have been arbitrarily detained in camps. In these camps, Uighurs are subjected to religious restrictions, sexual abuse, torture, family separation, and forced labor. Since 2017, the Chinese government has forced tens of thousands of Uighurs to work in factories supporting the supply chains of more than eighty prominent global brands. Outside the camps, China enforces cultural and religious restrictions on Uighurs. Beijing also conducts intense surveillance in Xinjiang that makes it difficult for Uighurs to exercise their basic human rights. Moreover, the Chinese government has overseen a campaign to forcibly sterilize hundreds of thousands of Uighur women in 2019 and 2020. As a result, the Uighur birth rate has plummeted. These conditions have sparked criticism from foreign governments. Human rights organization have suggested that China’s actions constitute genocide.

However, meaningful international pressure against China has been limited. Beijing wields growing global influence as a giant in global trade and a cornerstone of global supply chains. For instance, all iPhones, for instance, are assembled in China. China is the United States’ largest trading partner and holds more than $1 trillion of U.S. debt. China is also a powerful member of multilateral institutions such as the United Nations and has invested in many countries’ development. This influence has led several governments to remain silent on Xinjiang. The United States has condemned Chinese repression of the Uighurs, sanctioned Chinese officials, and blacklisted dozens of Chinese companies connected to the abuses of Uighurs. However, these efforts have not yet altered China’s behavior. As the severity of state repression in Xinjiang grows more apparent, Washington has an opportunity to stand up as a leader for human rights. The United States would hold significant leverage over China if it can convince other countries to see Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs as a stain on its international reputation. 

The United States has long sought to support human rights and has taken a leading role in confronting violators in the past. This stance is evidenced by the implementation of sanctions and multilateral arms embargoes in South Sudan. The U.S. also took a leadership role to protect human rights through military intervention in Libya in 2011. However, upholding human rights in this case could carry a considerable cost. Given China’s economic power and global influence, the U.S.-China relationship is crucial to the United States. Amid already rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, robust action in support of the Uighurs is a major policy risk. Such actions from the United States might inspire not only retaliatory action from China but also collateral damage to the U.S. economy. Policymakers will therefore need to carefully consider what trade-offs they are willing to incur to confront Chinese repression in Xinjiang.