Here's a summary of Uyghur-related news around the world:
Xinjiang scholar in Canada says renewing Chinese passport could endanger her
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Guldana Salimjan, a Xinjiang human rights scholar in Canada with an expired Chinese passport, asked the Canadian government to issue her a document to travel to the United States, where she has a job waiting at Indiana University. She said she feared that renewing her Chinese passport would lead to harassment by the Chinese, and that the Canadian government had not yet issued such a document, putting her career and personal safety at risk.
Chinese media used Muslim holiday as 'propaganda,' Uyghur rights groups say
Radio Free Asia reported that Chinese media showed local cadres happily offering gifts and help to Uyghurs during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Uyghur rights groups in the U.S. described the government's actions as surveillance, "state repression," "propaganda" and "manufactured happiness." State media also showed a video of Uyghurs dancing, scenes that some observers suspected were staged.
Kazakh refugee from Xinjiang detained in Germany for illegal entry
Ersin Erkinuly, an ethnic Kazakh originally from Xinjiang, was living in Ukraine when Russia invaded the country. Along with other refugees, he fled Ukraine. He eventually landed in Germany, where he was arrested for illegally entering the country, according to a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report. Erkinuly said he lost his Chinese passport and fears torture and imprisonment if he returns to China.
Rights groups have accused China of persecuting Xinjiang's Muslim ethnic groups, which Beijing has repeatedly denied. German officials said they would not deport people to countries that would pose such threats.
Chinese state to buy Xinjiang cotton to ease losses to mills from US ban
The price of cotton has fallen since the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which bans imports of cotton and other goods made from forced labor from Xinjiang. China is buying up cotton from Xinjiang to replenish state reserves and stabilize its cotton market.
A Xinjiang cotton-ginning mill owner said that even with the government stepping in, he will be losing money, reported the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
US lawmakers ask why some Chinese solar firms not on forced labor list
U.S. lawmakers asked the Biden administration why some Chinese solar companies allegedly involved in Uyghur forced labor had been excluded from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection list of firms whose goods are banned under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, Reuters reported.
Scientist blames low Uyghur birth rates in Xinjiang on 'forced cultural shift'
Yi Fuxian, a U.S.-based Chinese dissident and scientist in obstetrics and gynecology, analyzed China's census and recent history as well as the current education and economic situation in Xinjiang to understand why Uyghur birth rates slowed from 2010 to 2020. In his op-ed piece on the website Project Syndicate, Yi said a "forced cultural shift" played a significant role in the decline.
Xi visits Xinjiang for second time in eight years
This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Xinjiang's capital unannounced. State news agency Xinhua said Xi emphasized "social stability and lasting security" as the Communist Party's goal in governing Xinjiang.
In brief
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department indicted one former Department of Homeland Security agent and a current one in connection with an alleged Chinese government "transnational repression" scheme to "silence, harass, discredit and spy on" U.S.-based critics. The victims ranged from a prominent Chinese sculptor in California to a Chinese American Army veteran running for a congressional seat in New York.
Quote of note
Xi Jinping's visit to Xinjiang "certainly is a symbol that Beijing feels firmly in control of the region. That there isn't a concern about any attack or instability."
— Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
