The persecution of the minority Uyghur community in the Xinjiang province of China has captured tremendous attention from the international community. The Uyghur have long resided in what is now The People’s Republic of China. Today, the majority of Uyghurs practice Islam, and they can trace their Islamic roots back to the rule of ‘“Karakhanid,” a Turkic fiefdom that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the 13th century. The Uyghur speak Turkic, a language similar to Turkish and specific to the Uyghur community, and despite living in China, they “see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.” The religion and culture of the Uyghurs diverge from the Han majority in China, who differ religiously and predominantly practice Taoism, Confucianism, or Buddhism. The Uyghurs faced oppression from the Chinese government even before the emergence of Xi Jinping; however,  Xi Jinping amplified religious restrictions and maltreatment when he came into power in 2012. 

When the communist party came to power in the 1940s, they established a Religious Affairs Bureau to supervise religious activities and gatherings, recognizing five religions including Islam. Under Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 60s, China witnessed harsh repressions on religion where “religious persons of all faiths suffered a decade of attacks and persecution.” The Cultural Revolution was motivated by Mao’s desire to form an ideal communist state that upheld proletariat principles, which did not include religion. The Marxist beliefs that Mao upheld “denounces religions as superstitious hindrances to economic growth.” In other words, it distracted the proletariat from class struggle and attaining a communist state.

This changed in the 80s under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, who led the amendment of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China to welcome religion back to China. Article 36 of the constitution stated that it would protect “normal religious activities in China.” This was monumental in China as religious practices could resume and the government held a largely liberal view about the need to assure freedom of religion among its people. Following this amendment, the CCP also issued the “The Basic Viewpoint and Policy on Religious Question during Our Country’s Socialist Period” where the party expresses “regret for the past treatment of religious persons and organizations,” and with an emphasis on freedom and tolerance of religion. The state’s rather flexible attitude towards religion at an institutional level persisted until the events of September 11, in which Islamophobic sentiment became widespread in China and around the world. This sentiment remains prevalent today, as the current president, Xi Jinping, and the Chinese government has pushed the systematic persecution of Uyghur Muslims based on fears over Islamic fundamentalism and militarism. In 2014, the Kunming attack at a railway station in Yunnan, China catalyzed Xi-Jinping's suppression of the Uyghur population. This attack was conducted by Uyghur separatist groups, to which the president ordered the suppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang and told Chinese officials to respond with “absolutely no mercy,” while also emulating “aspects of America’s “war on terror” after the September 11 attacks.” Though differing in scale and the number of lives lost, China decided to use the same rhetoric as the United States when the Bush administration announced war with Iraq in the name of national security after Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the Twin Towers. 

China aims to assert its religious intolerance of the Uyghur through restrictions on religious freedom, forced labor camps, sterilization, and torture.  In 2017, reports came out claiming that China had launched “re-education” camps that systematically detained the Uyghur Muslims to assimilate them and strip them of their religion and culture. In conjunction with national action, the Xinjiang provincial government passed a law “prohibiting men from growing long beards and women from wearing veils.” This policy was part of China’s government to eradicate all Islamic religious practices that are central to their identity. Horrific reports have been released about the conditions of people inside the camps. Though exact numbers remain enshrouded by Chinese authorities, there are about one million Muslim detainees and 85 identified camps in the Xinjiang region. In the camps, torture methods include “sleep deprivation, being hung from a wall, or being locked in what's called a ‘tiger chair,’ a steel chair with affixed leg irons and handcuffs that render the body immobile, often in painful positions.” Women detainees also face “systemic rape” from the guards with one victim claiming that chinese men in “suits,” who would take women to a “black room” and commit horrific abuses.” These testimonies only account for a small percentage of the abuses in these camps and the extent of the violence in these camps is appalling. 

The United States has recognized these atrocious actions committed by the Chinese government and several institutional measures have been taken to condemn Xi Jinping’s administration. In 2020, the U.S. adopted the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act 2020, which supports “tracking and reporting on human rights violations” against minority Muslim groups in Xinjiang. Additionally, “legislation specifically addressing forced labor and corporate supply chains in Xinjiang has also been introduced in Congress.” This demonstrates America’s support to expose the brutality that the Muslim population faces and put sanctions on labor chains that rely on and perpetuate the persecutions even further. The American government has also used the Global Magnitsky Act to hold Chinese officials accountable for their involvement in the camps including, “Chen Quanguo, a mastermind behind the mass arbitrary detention, torture, and surveillance of millions of Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang region” by implementing individual sanctions against them. While the U.S. emphasizes its role as the protector of freedom of religion abroad, it is also responsible for islamophobic practices at home. Former President Trump enacted the Muslim Ban in 2017 with support from the Supreme Court, restricting immigration from predominantly muslim nations. This action was taken with discriminatory intent toward particular ethnoreligious minorities, contradicting America’s liberties of religious freedom and tolerance. 

In response to the American sanctions, the Chinese government warned the U.S. government to stay out of Chinese affairs. The Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hus Chuying claimed that “The U.S. actions seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs, seriously violate the basic norms of international relations and seriously damage Sino-US relations.” While China and the U.S. may be economic partners, the Chinese government believes it is not in the prerogative of the U.S. to intervene in its domestic matters, with Chinese officials claiming it could even damage the relations between the two countries. The Chinese government has enforced “corresponding sanctions” by sanctioning American politicians, including Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, who “have sponsored legislation over human rights issues in China.” Recently, the Biden administration has announced a “diplomatic boycott,” of the 2022 Beijing Olympics to protest China’s human rights violations by refusing to send diplomats to the event; however, American athletes are still allowed to compete. Chinese official Zhao Lijan has claimed China will respond with “resolute countermeasures” after stating that "[The boycott] seriously violates the principle of political neutrality of sports… The U.S. will pay a price for its practices.” The United States is not quite sure what specific “countermeasures” China might take, but the Chinese government doesn't seem pleased with America’s decision and the discord between the two nations continues to raise tensions.

It has become clear that preserving human rights and enforcing the idea of freedom of religion may not be China’s top priority; instead, by following policies that alter the Uyghur’s mobility and freedoms, China has found a way to assert its power as a state and control its population. Without a response from China, the United States has two options: 1. continue to hold China accountable at the expense of their relationship deteriorating, or 2. stay out of Chinese domestic affairs and maintain a cordial diplomatic relationship as they are each other’s key economic partners. If the U.S. continues to maintain a strong bilateral relationship with China, it means overlooking the mass persecutions of the Uyghurs and retracing interventionist measures taken to condemn the Chinese government. On the contrary, if the U.S. cuts its ties with China on the basis of human rights violations, it might have to endure tremendous economic and financial loss along with facing the Xi Jinping administration's “resolute countermeasures.” Both of these decisions will raise questions about the trajectory of US-Sino relations and be immensely impactful, but controversial on the international stage.

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