Panelists will include: Gardner Bovingdon, Indiana University Darren Byler, University of Washington Aziz Isa Elkun, University of London SOAS Rachel Harris, University of London SOAS Ann Scott Tyson, Christian Science Monitor The conversation will be moderated by Professor David Bachman, University of Washington. Since 2017 the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has interned as many as 1 million Uyghurs, Kazaks, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, the Uyghur “autonomous region” in northwestern China. These people are held in “reeducation” prison camps where they are forced to abandon their native language and religious beliefs and instead communicate in Mandarin Chinese and embrace state doctrines and Han cultural values. Hundreds of thousands more, including Uyghur scholars and public figures, have been arrested and given long prison sentences on vague charges of “separatism, terrorism, and extremism” across what historically was referred to as East Turkistan. Turkic minority people who are not themselves interned in the camps are also subjected to dense networks of surveillance and institutionalized discrimination. Chinese authorities justify these forms of oppression by citing security concerns, particularly forms of “extremist” Islam which they describe as a “disease” that must be eradicated. In order to “remove the tumors” of unauthorized beliefs and identities, the state has sent 1.1 million civil servants to live in Turkic minority homes and evaluate their need for “reeducation.” What do investigators know about the situation on the ground in the Uyghur homeland, and where is it headed? What are the drivers of these mass human rights violations? How are these violations perceived across China, in Muslim-majority nations, and in activist communities? What effect are they having in the Uyghur community in North America? How can leftist academics and politicians respond? This event is free and open to the public. |