Here's a summary of Uyghur-related news around the world:
China's anti-crime campaign targets some Uyghurs
Beijing's "Hundred Days Action" campaign, which aims to crack down on criminals and fugitives across the country, has also been targeting Uyghurs in Xinjiang considered "religious extremists," "separatists," "terrorists" and "two-faced persons." According to Radio Free Asia, the Chinese Communist Party often applies the term "two-faced" to Uyghur officials who want to carry on their cultural and religious traditions. Rights organizations and governments in the West have accused China of genocide and crimes against humanity, which Beijing has denied.
Uyghur who studied in Turkey arrested upon return to Xinjiang
A Uyghur who went to study in Turkey in 2010 returned to China last year to work in an international company's Guangzhou branch in southern China. Last month, Chinese police arrested him, RFA reported. Both where he was arrested and why are unknown.
Xinjiang lockdown due to COVID-19 outbreak
Xinjiang authorities have imposed new lockdowns in the region because of a new outbreak of COVID-19. The number of people infected with COVID-19 in Xinjiang rose to 274 from July 31-Aug. 6. Chinese government officials in the region told RFA that Chinese tourists coming from Gansu province are believed to be the source of the outbreak.
Top Chinese solar panel companies' shipments to US detained or sent back
The Wall Street Journal reported that shipments from Chinese solar-panel companies such as Longi Green Energy Technology, Jinko Solar and Trina Solar had been detained or sent back in recent weeks. The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which had gone into effect in June, requires companies to prove that imports are not made by Uyghur forced labor from Xinjiang.
China targets Canadian professor for research on Uyghurs
Darren Byler, a professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University in Canada and author of two books on the Uyghur human rights situation in China, was labeled by Chinese state media as an agent of the U.S. government, an accusation that he denies.
In brief
Amid China's pressure on Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. human rights chief, to stop the release of the long-anticipated Xinjiang human rights report, her office told VOA that she was committed to publishing the report in August. "As we have said, the high commissioner has committed to publishing the report before her term finishes at the end of the month," Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) spokesperson Liz Throssell told VOA.
Quote of note
"As you approach your departure as high commissioner on August 31, the report remains buried while CCP diplomats reportedly conduct a flurry of confidential lobbying to halt its release. Do not let the CCP further taint your tenure as commissioner by withholding the report a minute longer."
— U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, demanding that OHCHR's Bachelet release Xinjiang human rights report immediately
