Xinjiang conflict
Geopolitical conflict in Central Asia
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We include updates on Persecution of Uyghurs in China, 2014 Kunming attack, East Turkestan, July 2009 Ürümqi riots, Chen Quanguo, 1992 Ürümqi bombings, 1997 Ürümqi bus bombings, 2008 Uyghur unrest, 2008 Kashgar attack, Ghulja incident, Shaoguan incident, 2010 Aksu bombing, 2011 Hotan attack, 2011 Kashgar attacks, Pishan hostage crisis, 1989 Ürümqi unrest ... and more.
| May 2025 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) documented the transfer of at least 11,000 individuals from Xinjiang to factories across nine Chinese provinces over the past decade.
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| 2023 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Official figures revealed Jiangsu province reported 39,000 Xinjiang migrant workers, with one county transferring over 10,000 people in the first quarter of the year.
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| August 2022 | Bachelet released a report concluding that the detention of Uyghurs and Muslim minorities in Xinjiang since 2017 may constitute international crimes, particularly crimes against humanity. |
| June 2022 | Michelle Bachelet announced her resignation as UN human rights chief following criticism from Uyghur organizations. |
| May 2022 | UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet met with Xinjiang officials to discuss concerns about counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures. |
| 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Multiple national legislatures passed non-binding motions declaring China's actions as genocide, including Canada's House of Commons, the Dutch parliament, the UK House of Commons, Lithuania's Seimas, and France's National Assembly.
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| 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Operations of internment camps shift from mass detention to forced labor programs, according to researcher Adrian Zenz and human rights activists.
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| 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Chen Quanguo's leadership of internment camp operations ends after overseeing the detention of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.
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| 2021 | Shirzat Bawudun (former head of Xinjiang justice department) and Sattar Sawut (former head of Xinjiang education department) were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on separatism and bribery charges. Three other educators were simultaneously sentenced to life in prison. |
| 2021 | Amnesty International released a 160-page report documenting human rights violations in Xinjiang, including extensive biometric data collection and surveillance of Uyghurs. PBS Frontline estimated nearly two million Uyghurs detained across over 12,000 camps. |
| October 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
CBC, Investigative Reporting Project Italy, and The Guardian reported on forced labor in Xinjiang's tomato product exports, revealing products being sent to countries like Italy and repackaged for markets such as Canada.
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| June 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Human rights reports highlighted forced labor in the solar module and wind turbine export industries, impacting solar manufacturing firms in the US and Germany.
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| January 2021 |
Xinjiang internment camps
The United States Department of State declared China's actions in Xinjiang as genocide.
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| October 2020 | The U.S. State Department lifted the terrorist organization designation for the group. |
| September 2020 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Australian Strategic Policy Institute reports that construction of internment camps continues, despite government claims of winding down operations.
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| July 2020 | A group of 45 nations issued a competing letter defending China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. |
| June 2020 | At the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council, 39 countries condemned China's treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. |
| June 17 2020 | President Donald Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act into law, enabling potential sanctions against Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo under the Global Magnitsky Act. |
| 2019 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Gulbahar Haitiwaji was released from the Baijiantan camp in Karamay after being detained for two years.
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| 2019 | Xinjiang birth rates continued to decline, falling nearly 24% compared to a nationwide decline of only 4.2%. |
| December 2019 | United States House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, further advancing legislative action against human rights violations in Xinjiang. |
| December 2019 | A second documentary about the Xinjiang conflict and internment camps was broadcast by Chinese state media, again provoking varied responses on Chinese social media. |
| October 2019 | 23 countries issued a joint statement at the UN urging China to respect human rights and uphold its national and international obligations. |
| September 2019 | United States Senate passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act, addressing human rights concerns in Xinjiang. |
| July 2019 | 22 countries issued a joint letter to the UN Human Rights Council condemning China's mass detention of Uyghurs and other minorities, calling for China to refrain from arbitrary detention and movement restrictions. |
| May 2019 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Bakitali Nur escaped to Kazakhstan after being released from detention and forced to work in government factories.
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| 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Financial Times reported on the Yutian/Keriya county vocational training centre's forced labor facility, which included eight factories producing shoes, mobile phones, and tea products.
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| 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
State Ethnic Affairs Commission and State Administration for Religious Affairs were placed under the CCP's United Front Work Department, accelerating the 'Sinicization' of ethnic and religious minorities.
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| 2018 |
Jingwang Weishi
A research team of analysts conducted a thorough technical report investigating the Jingwang Weishi application and its functionalities, revealing its data collection and scanning mechanisms.
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| 2018 | Chinese officials acknowledged a nearly one-third drop in birth rates in Xinjiang, though they denied reports of forced sterilization. |
| October 2018 | Chinese state media aired a documentary about the Xinjiang conflict and internment camps, which generated mixed reactions on Chinese social media platforms. |
| August 21 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Ghalipjan, a 35-year-old Uyghur man from Shanshan/Pichan County, died in a re-education camp. Authorities reported his death as a heart attack, but the neighborhood committee head claimed he was beaten to death by a police officer.
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| June 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
An officer at the Kuqa County Police Department reported that between June and December, 150 people died at the No. 1 Internment Camp in the Yengisher district.
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| June 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, was informed that his mother Ayhan Memet, 78, had died two months earlier while in detention at a 'political re-education camp'.
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| February 15 2018 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Kayrat Samarkand, a Kazakh citizen, was freed from custody. The same day, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov sent a diplomatic note to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
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| 2017 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Australian Strategic Policy Institute reported the systematic transfer of Uyghur workers to factories across China, with over 80,000 workers moved between 2017 and 2019.
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| 2017 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Xinjiang internment camps are established under the administration of CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, marking the beginning of large-scale detention of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.
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| 2017 | Standard rural birth limits were applied to Uyghurs, restricting their allowed births to the same standard as Han Chinese. |
| 2017 | Overseas Uyghur activists reported intensified restrictions, including heavy fines for refusing to eat during Ramadan, detention of Uyghurs returning from Mecca, banning of Muslim names, and the 'Pair Up and Become Family' program where Han officials were assigned to live in homes of interned Uyghurs. |
| November 2 2017 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Sarsenbek Akaruli, a 45-year-old veterinarian and trader from Ili, Xinjiang, was arrested after police found WhatsApp on his cell phone and placed in a detention camp.
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| May 2017 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Mailikemu Maimati, a woman from Maralbexi County, was detained in the county's re-education camp between May and June.
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| February 14 2017 | Three knife-wielding attackers killed five people before being killed by police. |
| 2016 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Start of a period of significant expansion of vocational training centers in Xinjiang, with the Yutian/Keriya county center expanding 269% in total area by 2018.
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| 2016 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Local authorities recruited over 90,000 police officers - twice the number of the previous seven years - and established approximately 7,300 heavily guarded checkpoints across the region.
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| 2016 | Han Chinese family planning limits were increased from two to three children, which subsequently impacted ethnic minority family planning policies. |
| 2016 | Uyghurs faced severe movement restrictions within Xinjiang, with residents living in fenced-off neighborhoods with checkpoint entrances and apartments marked with QR codes for police surveillance. |
| August 2016 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Chen Quanguo, a hardline Communist Party secretary previously from Tibet, took charge of the Xinjiang autonomous region, significantly intensifying surveillance and control.
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| August 30 2016 | A suicide bombing occurred at Kyrgyzstan's Chinese embassy by a Uyghur, with the suicide bomber being the only fatality. |
| 2015 |
Xinjiang internment camps
Mihrigul Tursun traveled to China and was immediately detained, separated from her infant triplets. One triplet died during her detention, and the other two developed health problems.
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Xinjiang internment camps, Jingwang Weishi & Xinjiang conflict, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.