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ALL Xinjiang related issues e.g. uyghur people, development, videos etc, In here please.

An Independent East Turkestan will be bad for Pakistan

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Uighurs Use Videos to Draw Attention to Missing Family Members

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Haunting images on TikTok’s domestic Chinese affiliate appear to challenge Beijing’s assurances about mass-internment campaign

By Eva Dou and Philip Wen; Aug. 22, 2019

BEIJING—TikTok has become one of China’s most globally successful mobile apps by embracing silly, comedic short video clips.

Now, Uighur Muslims from China’s northwestern Xinjiang region are using a domestic version of the app to post haunting videos that appear to memorialize missing family members and draw attention to Beijing’s mass-internment campaign.

In recent days, China’s Uighurs have posted dozens of videos that show them crying silently in front of family portraits. Such public expressions of grief have been rare in Xinjiang, where heavy censorship has prevented little aside from official propaganda from trickling out.

Posted on Douyin, the domestic Chinese version of TikTok, the videos’ ambiguity appears to have helped them slip past censors at first, but many have since been deleted. There is no indication of what happened to the people pictured in the family portraits.

The parent company of Douyin and TikTok, Beijing-based Bytedance Inc., didn’t respond to a request for comment. Bytedance is now one of the world’s most valuable startups, with an estimated $75 billion valuation.

Many of the accounts that had uploaded the videos listed Xinjiang as their location, including from the prefectures of Kashgar, Aksu and Kizilsu. While some of the accounts remained active on Wednesday, the vast majority had been deleted or disabled by Thursday. Of the accounts that remained active, other videos of their daily lives remain, but the videos with the pictures of family members in the background are no longer there.

Like other social-media platforms operating in China, Douyin is required by law to delete any content that expresses political dissent. Online users have become skilled at developing new methods to circumvent censorship—employing puns, symbols and, in this case, silent clips on social-media apps. Even so, censors are usually close behind.

China’s web regulators have closely policed popular social-media platforms like Weibo and WeChat. One of Bytedance’s popular news accounts was briefly shut down by authorities last year for vulgar content.

To accommodate the different audiences, Bytedance operates Douyin and TikTok separately. Unlike the heavily censored Douyin, users of the global app TikTok aren’t subject to Chinese censorship, though TikTok has come under attack in various countries for allowing sexually suggestive clips and videos promoting suicide to circulate widely.

The tearful videos challenge Beijing’s claims about Xinjiang. Western scholars estimate more than 1 million Turkic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang in the past few years. Xinjiang officials say they aren’t kept in detention camps but in vocational schools, which rehabilitate extremists and petty criminals, and that students attend voluntarily.

Authorities said in July that a majority of those in the centers had returned home—a claim that hasn’t been independently verified. Shohrat Zakir, Xinjiang’s governor and No. 2 official, said at the time that more than 90% of those released had found jobs that they like, but he provided no evidence. Abduweli Ayup, a Norway-based linguist originally from Xinjiang, said the videos appear to be an effort by some Uighurs to refute the claims.

“I think this is the answer from the people,” said Mr. Ayup. “They say, ‘If they are 90%, then where are my brothers and sisters and relatives?’”

Much about conditions in Xinjiang remains unknown due to an official clampdown on information and restrictions on travel to the region. While some overseas Uighurs say family members have been released this year, others can’t confirm whether loved ones are alive or dead.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Thursday that he hadn’t seen the Douyin videos but added that China sought to meet any reasonable demands from Chinese people living overseas. Xinjiang’s government didn’t immediately reply to a faxed request for comment.

Arslan Hidayat, a Uighur-Australian activist based in Turkey, is among a number of activists who have broadened the reach of the videos by sharing dozens on Facebook and Twitter. He said the silence in the videos and circumspect responses to questions in the comments sections reinforced the likelihood that those loved ones weren’t free.

“One posts, ‘When are we going to see our brothers?’ and another says, ‘Oh, stay strong, they’ll come out soon,’ ” Mr. Hidayat said.

In recent months, Beijing has intensified efforts to counter Western condemnation of the Xinjiang detentions, which U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called “the stain of the century.” Beijing rallied 37 allies in July to sign a letter in support of China’s Xinjiang policies after the U.K., Japan and 20 other countries signed one calling on Beijing to end its repressive policies on Uighurs.

Halmurat Harri Uyghur, a Finland-based activist, said Xinjiang residents would have known they were risking government punishment by posting the videos to Douyin.

“If they are in the Uighur region, they are risking their lives to give testimonies,” he said.

Vanessa Frangville, a Chinese studies professor at Belgium’s Université Libre de Bruxelles, said the silent crying of the videos reflected the tightness of restrictions on Uighurs to prevent them from speaking freely about conditions in the region.

“They use body, eye or finger language that is still to be decoded,” she said.

—Shan Li contributed to this article.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/uighur...33?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/yyQyFRkQO6
How come Turkish government changed its tones on Xinjiang and didn't join the west to sign the open letter? what did Erdogan come to Beijing for ?
 
Qatar 'withdraws signature' from pro-China statement defending Uighur detentions
While welcoming the move, Uighurs question motives behind Qatar's decision to remove its name from letter defending 're-education' camps

By Areeb Ullah
Published date: 21 August 2019

Uighur activists welcomed Qatar's decision to remove its name from an open letter supporting China's imprisonment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province.

Correspondence seen by Bloomberg and revealed on Wednesday showed that Doha had requested the United Nations Human Rights Council withdraw Qatar's name from the July letter, days after it was announced at the UN.

The messages quoted Ali Khalfan al-Mansouri, Qatar's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, as stating that Doha intended to "maintain a neutral stance".

"Taking into account our focus on compromise and mediation, we believe that co-authorising the aforementioned letter would compromise key priorities," Mansouri said in the correspondence dated 18 July.

The letter, signed by several Muslim-majority countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, was published on 12 July.

Qatar did not respond to repeated requests for comment on why it had not gone public about its decision to withdraw its signature from the pro-China statement.

Uighurs welcome Qatari move

Despite welcoming Qatar's decision, Uighur activists questioned why the Gulf state had not gone public with it.

"Surprised but glad that Qatar has made this important move. It is the right decision but I do not understand why they had not gone public sooner," Halmurat Harri, a Uighur activist who now lives in Finland, told Middle East Eye.

"Now that they have gone public, they should use this opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of other countries like Saudi Arabia, who signed the statement and are seeking closer ties with China."

John Fisher from Human Rights Watch echoed Harri's sentiments and said it "spoke volumes" that countries like North Korea, Syria and Venezuela had endorsed the pro-China letter.

"Many Muslim-majority states, including Qatar, have rightly declined to lend their voices in support of China’s mass detention and sweeping abuses directed against Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang," Fisher told MEE.

"We urge these states to speak out in support of an independent assessment by the High Commissioner for Human Rights so that the UN Human Rights Council can receive objective information and consider appropriate action.”

Questioning Qatar's motives

China was Qatar’s third-largest trading partner in 2018, with some $13bn in total trade, according to Bloomberg.

Revelations that Qatar had withdrawn its signature from the pro-China letter comes weeks after a Uighur was threatened with deportation to China from Doha airport.

Earlier this month, Ablikim Yusuf was on the verge of being deported to China. Fearing for his life, Yusuf posted a video on Facebook urging people to help him.

Arslan Hidayat, a Uighur activist born in Australia and now based in Turkey, helped translate Yusuf's plea and put English-language subtitles on his video.

He praised Qatar for taking a stand against China but questioned the Gulf state's motivations behind removing its name from the letter.

"It's very brave of Qatar to be the first Muslim country to withdraw its signature from the letter in support of the camps and I hope many others follow," Hidayat told MEE.

"But it'll be interesting to see whether this is a genuine gesture from Qatar - i.e. are they doing this to boost their economy or to support their Muslim brothers?"

China has defended its use of "re-education" camps to intern millions of Uighurs in the Xinjiang province, which is home to 22 million members of the Muslim minority.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/...l-chinas-letter-supporting-re-education-camps
 
Qatar 'withdraws signature' from pro-China statement defending Uighur detentions
While welcoming the move, Uighurs question motives behind Qatar's decision to remove its name from letter defending 're-education' camps

By Areeb Ullah
Published date: 21 August 2019

Uighur activists welcomed Qatar's decision to remove its name from an open letter supporting China's imprisonment of Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang province.

Correspondence seen by Bloomberg and revealed on Wednesday showed that Doha had requested the United Nations Human Rights Council withdraw Qatar's name from the July letter, days after it was announced at the UN.

The messages quoted Ali Khalfan al-Mansouri, Qatar's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, as stating that Doha intended to "maintain a neutral stance".

"Taking into account our focus on compromise and mediation, we believe that co-authorising the aforementioned letter would compromise key priorities," Mansouri said in the correspondence dated 18 July.

The letter, signed by several Muslim-majority countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, was published on 12 July.

Qatar did not respond to repeated requests for comment on why it had not gone public about its decision to withdraw its signature from the pro-China statement.

Uighurs welcome Qatari move

Despite welcoming Qatar's decision, Uighur activists questioned why the Gulf state had not gone public with it.

"Surprised but glad that Qatar has made this important move. It is the right decision but I do not understand why they had not gone public sooner," Halmurat Harri, a Uighur activist who now lives in Finland, told Middle East Eye.

"Now that they have gone public, they should use this opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of other countries like Saudi Arabia, who signed the statement and are seeking closer ties with China."

John Fisher from Human Rights Watch echoed Harri's sentiments and said it "spoke volumes" that countries like North Korea, Syria and Venezuela had endorsed the pro-China letter.

"Many Muslim-majority states, including Qatar, have rightly declined to lend their voices in support of China’s mass detention and sweeping abuses directed against Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang," Fisher told MEE.

"We urge these states to speak out in support of an independent assessment by the High Commissioner for Human Rights so that the UN Human Rights Council can receive objective information and consider appropriate action.”

Questioning Qatar's motives

China was Qatar’s third-largest trading partner in 2018, with some $13bn in total trade, according to Bloomberg.

Revelations that Qatar had withdrawn its signature from the pro-China letter comes weeks after a Uighur was threatened with deportation to China from Doha airport.

Earlier this month, Ablikim Yusuf was on the verge of being deported to China. Fearing for his life, Yusuf posted a video on Facebook urging people to help him.

Arslan Hidayat, a Uighur activist born in Australia and now based in Turkey, helped translate Yusuf's plea and put English-language subtitles on his video.

He praised Qatar for taking a stand against China but questioned the Gulf state's motivations behind removing its name from the letter.

"It's very brave of Qatar to be the first Muslim country to withdraw its signature from the letter in support of the camps and I hope many others follow," Hidayat told MEE.

"But it'll be interesting to see whether this is a genuine gesture from Qatar - i.e. are they doing this to boost their economy or to support their Muslim brothers?"

China has defended its use of "re-education" camps to intern millions of Uighurs in the Xinjiang province, which is home to 22 million members of the Muslim minority.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/...l-chinas-letter-supporting-re-education-camps

Turkey Got a $1 Billion Foreign Cash Boost From China in June
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ion-from-china-swap-in-june-boost-to-reserves

Turkey knows not to bite the hand that feeds it.
 
Are you Turks? What did Turks do to Armenian?Why Kurds are unhappy and fighting for independence from Turkey?

China did Not harm Turkey, doesn't mean China is incapable of.

Who are you working for? CIA? Your president praise Xinjiang just weeks ago, didn't you know that?

Don't work so hard, work life balance is important.
 
Are you Turks? What did Turks do to Armenian?Why Kurds are unhappy and fighting for independence from Turkey?

China did Not harm Turkey, doesn't mean China is incapable of.

Who are you working for? CIA? Your president praise Xinjiang just weeks ago, didn't you know that?

Don't work so hard, work life balance is important.
I don't know what's wrong with these few group of Turkish.Turkish oppress minority like kurds and Armenia but they still got the cheek to accuse China of oppression. These people live in their own world which they believe ottoman empire still exist. They believe they can oppress others but others can't oppress their kind. What a joke. Ask them to set example first before lecture others. If not , China just learn from these Turkish on how to deal with minority. :enjoy:
 
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Some part of Turkey is like a war zone. They also have troops fighting in Syria, a blatant violation of another country s sovereignty.
 
Xinjiang small towns life is very lay back and easy, good for the locals, I m kind of dreaming of that kind of life.

 
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