Chinese Genocidal Campaigns in Xinjiang: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to critically examine China's relentless attempts for the forcible assimilation of the native Uyghur Turkic Muslim population into Han culture in the Xinjiang Autonomous area.
The Uyghur and other Turkic minority groups in Xinjiang are now expected to submit to the cultural practices of the Han Chinese majority after losing their independence. According to CCP, local cultures and landscapes must be altered to fit the national narrative, and some aspects of minority culture must be eradicated as part of this assimilation process. The Chinese government is particularly skeptical of religious and foreign influences on non-Han cultures. Xi Jinping emphasized the need of avoiding foreign interference and merging religious concepts with Chinese culture during the 2016 National Religious Work Conference. According to Zhang Xunmou, the government's main religious policy adviser, who made this claim in 2019, complete sinicization—both inside and outside—is the ultimate goal of religious work. The international community is not stopping this process.