The Xinjiang province, the area Uighurs call 'East Turkistan,' was never a part of China, to begin with. China, under Premiere Mao Zedong, invaded and occupied the East Turkestan Republic in 1949. Now Beijing shamelessly claims it as “part of China since ancient times”. The People's Republic of China changed the name East Turkestan into “Xinjiang” in 1955 after it was designated an Uyghur autonomous region. You cannot annex a sovereign nation with its own set of belief system and values and then persecute its people for having values incompatible with yours.
First China Annex then taking away peoples rights, acting like Israel. Hope this region becomes independent.
Uyghurs are unique people. They are not a part of China.