Joint Letter from Uyghur Organizations Urging U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Demand an End to China’s Genocidal Policies in Meeting with Wang Yi

  • October 27, 2023

October 25, 2023

Dear Secretary Blinken:

We are writing to you as a coalition of Uyghur organizations. In light of your upcoming meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, we are concerned that in the quest for continued open dialogue with the People’s Republic of China, accountability for the ongoing Uyghur genocide is being minimized.

Human rights, and particularly the plight of Uyghur political prisoners unjustly detained, among other genocidal crimes under the CCP regime, must be front and center in any conversation with a Chinese official.

At present, the Chinese government is continuing and hardening efforts to whitewash its genocidal atrocity crimes, including by increasing domestic tourism to the Uyghur homeland,  furthering its narrative that ‘all is well’ in the region.

Acts of transnational repression are only escalating both here in the United States and in diaspora communities across the globe. The intimidation and targeting of Uyghur family members in China aims to silence Uyghur activists and others who speak  against the CCP’s flagrant abuses. In our observation and documentation of such incidents, the Chinese government appears to be emboldened, and is expanding its tactics of coercion and intimidation.

Additionally, the ongoing detention and sentencing of Uyghur societal leaders, artists, scholars, publishers, and other innocent people held as political prisoners must not be a siloed concern in high-level dialogue with the PRC. Many of the extrajudicial, unjustified detentions concerning family members of U.S. citizens have been raised with the Chinese with little to no progress. These cases are representative of the failure to demand even baseline concessions from the Chinese. Our government cannot expect to obtain meaningful cooperation with China while human rights are flouted at every turn. Demanding basic human dignity, and the cessation of the intimidation and harassment of U.S. citizens and those residing on U.S. soil, must be a prerequisite to any type of cooperation with any foreign regime—the PRC, a case in point.

As has been articulated in previous communications: if China cannot commit to basic human dignity and continues to carry out genocide with impunity, it will never be a reliable partner. It certainly cannot be relied upon to negotiate or mediate other conflicts or matters of global significance, having repeatedly made its own position clear.

We expect you to demand that the concentration camps, forced labor programs, and coercive boarding schools be shut down, and that all political prisoners be released immediately and allowed to reunite with their families.

We thank you in advance for your stalwart commitment to lead globally on universal values and uphold fundamental human dignity.

Sincerely yours,

The Uyghur Human Rights Project
Belgium Uyghur Association
Campaign For Uyghurs
Norway Uyghur Committee
Sweden Uyghur Association
Uyghur Academy
Uyghur American Association
World Uyghur Congress
World Uyghur Congress Foundation in Turkey

Picture of Jacob

editor-muyesser

Campaign for Uyghurs

We defend the human rights of Uyghur people and the free world by exposing and confronting the Chinese government's genocide, and empowering Uyghur women and youth in the diaspora.

Donate Now

READ MORE

Forced Labor, Coercive Land-Use Transfers, and Forced Assimilation in Xinjiang’s Agricultural Production
Located in the northwest of China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region boasts long hours of sunshine and ample water for irrigation — making the region geographically ideal for growing cotton. Cotton grown in Xinjiang, which has good coloration and long fiber, is favored in both domestic and foreign markets.
‘This Has Been Delayed For Too Long’
Source: RFA Rushan Abbas, a former broadcaster for RFA’s Uyghur Service and the director of the U.S.-based Campaign for Uighurs exile group, recently testified at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in Washington about rights violations in northwest China’s
Uyghurs in Exile Launch Campaign Calling on China to Release Video of Missing Family Members
Source: RFA More than a dozen ethnic Uyghurs living in exile have called on China to release video of family members held in political “re-education camps” in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) after Chinese state media published what it
Tough Curbs on Burials
Source: RFA HONG KONG—Ethnic minority Uyghurs from the far-west Chinese city of Urumqi say authorities attach strict conditions when they release the bodies of Uyghurs who die in custody. Hundreds of Uyghurs were detained as part of a broad crackdown
I’ve fought China’s slow-motion genocide of Uighur Muslims. Now, my family are victims.
Source: USA Today   The world is finally waking up to the ongoing and terrifying violations of human rights against the Uighurs — a Muslim minority in Northwest China. My own family is victim to these violations. As both an American citizen and
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Brownback at Taipei Religious Freedom Conference
Remarks by Ambassador Sam Brownback at Taipei Religious Freedom Conference March 11, 2019 I would like to thank President Tsai’s comments and her for taking the time to be here out of her busy schedule. I can’t help but just
On Capitol Hill, persecuted Muslims unite to protect religious minorities’ rights
(RNS) — More than 125 members of the minority Ahmadi Muslim sect spent Monday (April 1) on Capitol Hill advocating for international religious freedom causes — particularly lending their voices on behalf of beleaguered Uighur Muslims. As part of its
As Countries Seek Trade With China, Imprisoned Uyghur Community Has Become “Collateral Damage”
China’s top trade negotiator is traveling to Washington this week as tension over trade intensifies between the two nations. President Trump is threatening to impose a 25 percent tariff on nearly all Chinese imports after the U.S. accused China of

STAY
INFORMED

Add your name to our mailing list so we can keep you updated about upcoming events, speciality drives, new initiatives and more.