Updated June 7, 2021
China Primer: Uyghurs
Uyghurs (also spelled “Uighurs”) are a Muslim ethnic
the XUAR; they now make up roughly half of the region’s
group living primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
population of 24.8 million, according to official sources.
Region (XUAR) in the far northwest of the People’s
The government long has provided economic incentives for
Republic of China (PRC). They have garnered the attention
Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in China, to migrate
of U.S. policymakers, particularly since 2018 following
to the region; Hans now constitute up to 40% of the XUAR
reports of the mass internment of Uyghurs in “reeducation”
population and the majority in Urumqi, the capital.
centers. The detentions are part of a PRC government effort
to systematically transform the thought and behavior of
Since an outbreak of Uyghur demonstrations and ethnic
Uyghurs and forcefully assimilate them into Chinese
unrest in 2009, and sporadic clashes involving Uyghurs and
society, which some observers believe may result in the
Xinjiang security personnel that spiked between 2013 and
destruction of Uyghur culture and identity. The U.S.
2015, PRC leaders have carried out large scale criminal
government has responded by implementing targeted
arrests and intensive security measures in the XUAR, aimed
restrictions on trade with Xinjiang and imposing visa and
at combatting “terrorism, separatism and religious
economic sanctions on some PRC officials.
extremism.” Three violent incidents in China in 2014
purportedly carried out by Uyghurs against Han civilians
Uyghurs speak a Turkic language and practice a moderate
were described by some outside observers as acts of
form of Sunni Islam. The XUAR, often referred to simply
terrorism, and some experts argue that the PRC government
as Xinjiang (pronounced “SHIN-jyahng”), is a provincial-
has used counterterrorism as a pretext for carrying out
level administrative region which comprises about one-
forced assimilation policies and mass detentions.
sixth of China’s total land area and borders eight countries.
The region is rich in minerals, produces over 80% of
Forced Assimilation
China’s cotton, and has China’s largest coal and natural gas
Since 2017, in tandem with a new national policy referred
reserves and a fifth of its oil reserves. The XUAR is a
to as “Sinicization,” XUAR authorities have instituted
strategic region for the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative,
measures to assimilate Uyghurs into Han Chinese society
which involves Chinese-backed infrastructure projects and
and reduce the influences of Uyghur, Islamic, and Arabic
energy development in neighboring Central and South Asia.
cultures and languages. The XUAR government enacted a
One of the few parts of China to receive natural snow,
law in 2017 that prohibits “expressions of extremification”
Xinjiang also is a focus of Beijing’s efforts to develop
and placed restrictions upon dress and grooming, traditional
winter sports in preparation for its hosting of the 2022
Uyghur customs, and adherence to Islamic dietary laws
Winter Olympics.
(halal). Thousands of mosques in Xinjiang reportedly have
been demolished or “Sinicized,” whereby Islamic motifs
and Arabic writings have been removed. There have been
reports of a government campaign to forcefully reduce birth
rates among Uyghurs.
Beginning in 2016, Chen Quanguo, the newly appointed
Communist Party Secretary of the XUAR, stepped up
security and surveillance measures aimed at the Uyghur
population. Such actions included the installation of
thousands of neighborhood police kiosks and ubiquitous
placement of surveillance cameras, collection of biometric
data for identification purposes, and more intrusive
monitoring of Internet use. The central government sent an

estimated one million officials from outside Xinjiang,
Sources: CRS, using U.S. Department of State Boundaries; Esri;
mostly ethnic Han, to live temporarily in Uyghur homes to
Global Administrative Areas; DeLorme; NGA.
assess their compliance with government policies.
All or parts of the area comprising Xinjiang have been
Mass Internment
under the political control or influence of Chinese,
By some estimates, since 2017, Xinjiang authorities have
Mongols, and Russians for long spans of the region’s
arbitrarily detained between 1 million and 1.8 million
documented history, along with periods of Turkic or
Turkic and other Muslims, mostly Uyghurs and smaller
Uyghur rule. Uyghurs played a role in the establishment of
numbers of ethnic Kazakhs and other groups, in
two short-lived, semi-autonomous East Turkestan
“reeducation” centers. Detainees, some of whom may have
Republics in the 1930s and 1940s. The PRC asserted
engaged in religious, cultural, or scholarly activities that the
control over Xinjiang in 1949 and established the XUAR in
government now deems as extremist, are compelled to
1955. Uyghurs once were the predominant ethnic group in
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China Primer: Uyghurs
renounce many of their Islamic beliefs and customs as a
officials and immediate family members pursuant to other
condition for their release. According to some former
authorities.
detainees, treatment and conditions in the centers include
factory labor, crowded and unsanitary conditions, food
Import Restrictions. Since October 2019, U.S. Customs
deprivation, psychological pressure, sexual abuse, and
and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a series of
medical neglect and torture, sometimes resulting in deaths
announcements blocking the import of certain goods
of detainees while in the camps or soon after their release.
suspected of involving Xinjiang-related forced labor
pursuant to the forced labor import ban under Section 307
In the second half of 2019, PRC officials claimed that most
of the Tariff Act of 1930. Most significantly, CBP in
detainees had been released, although many Uyghurs living
January 2021 issued a region-wide order to block the
abroad say that they still have not heard from missing
import of cotton and tomato products originating in
relatives in Xinjiang. According to some reports, many
Xinjiang. Prior orders targeted certain products from
detainees likely have been formally convicted of crimes and
specified companies or other entities in Xinjiang.
placed in higher security facilities.
Export Controls. Since October 2019, the U.S.
Forced Labor
Department of Commerce has added 52 PRC companies
The PRC government has pressured large numbers of
and public security entities to the Bureau of Industry and
Uyghurs, including former detainees, into accepting
Security (BIS) “entity list” under the Export Administration
employment in the formal workforce, particularly in the
Regulations (EAR) for their connection to PRC human
textile, apparel, agricultural, consumer electronics, and
rights abuses, with 48 of these specifically related to
other labor-intensive industries, in Xinjiang and other
Xinjiang. The actions impose licensing requirements prior
provinces. Uyghurs who refuse to accept such employment
to the sale or transfer of certain U.S. items to these entities,
may be threatened with detention. Some factories utilizing
with a presumption of license denial for most items.
Uyghur labor reportedly are tied to global supply chains.
Factory employment often involves heavy surveillance and
Atrocities Determination. On January 19, 2021, the State
political indoctrination of Uyghurs.
Department announced that it had determined that the PRC
had committed crimes against humanity and genocide in
Selected U.S. Responses
Xinjiang, and called on multilateral and juridical bodies to
Legislation. On June 17, 2020, President Trump signed the
pursue accountability. The Biden Administration has
Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-145)
indicated concurrence with this determination.
into law. The act aims to impose visa and economic

sanctions on PRC officials determined to be responsible for
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim
The PRC government has attributed some past deadly
minority groups in Xinjiang. The act also mandates the
incidents in the XUAR to the “East Turkestan Islamic
Department of State, the Director of National Intelligence,
Movement” (ETIM), which it portrays as a Uyghur
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, respectively, to
separatist and terrorist group with ties to global terrorist
submit reports to the relevant congressional committees on
organizations. The U.S. government designated ETIM as a
the following: (1) human rights abuses in Xinjiang,
terrorist organization under Executive Order 13224 in 2002
including detention and forced labor; (2) the security and
(to block terrorist financing) and in 2004 placed ETIM on
economic implications posed to the United States by PRC
the Terrorist Exclusion List, which bars members of
policies in Xinjiang, including a list of Chinese companies
terrorist groups from entering the United States. In
involved in constructing or operating internment camps or
November 2020, the Trump Administration removed ETIM
providing mass surveillance equipment; and (3) U.S. efforts
from the Terrorist Exclusion List, stating that “for more
to protect Uyghur-Americans and ethnic Uyghurs from
than a decade, there has been no credible evidence that
China residing in the United States from harassment or
ETIM continues to exist.”
intimidation by officials or agents of the PRC government.

At its height in the late-1990s and early-2000s, ETIM was a
Targeted Sanctions. The United States has to date publicly
small, loosely organized and poorly financed group based
designated eight current or former PRC officials for
in Afghanistan and Pakistan that lacked weapons and had
sanctions in relation to human rights abuses in Xinjiang,
little contact with global jihadist organizations, according to
pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13818. E.O. 13818
some experts. The Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP), which
implements and builds on the Global Magnitsky Human
some reports refer to as the successor to ETIM, emerged
Rights Accountability Act (Title XII, Subtitle F of P.L. 114-
around 2004. TIP purportedly had stronger links to Al
328), which authorizes the President to impose economic
Qaeda and the Taliban, but was primarily engaged in
and visa sanctions against foreign individuals or entities
producing videos promoting attacks against PRC targets,
responsible for human rights violations or corruption.
and lacked its own capacity to carry them out.
Among those designated is XUAR Party Secretary Chen

Quanguo and two entities, the Xinjiang Public Security
For further information, see CRS Report R46750, Human
Bureau and the Xinjiang Production and Construction
Rights in China and U.S. Policy: Issues for the 117th
Corps, a state-run paramilitary organization with major
Congress.
economic interests in the XUAR. The State Department
also has announced visa restrictions against Xinjiang
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
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China Primer: Uyghurs

IF10281


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10281 · VERSION 44 · UPDATED

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