Updated January 6, 2023
China Primer: Uyghurs
Uyghurs (also spelled “Uighurs”) are a Muslim ethnic
China, to migrate to the region; Hans now constitute up to
minority group living primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur
40% of the XUAR population and the majority in Urumqi,
Autonomous Region (XUAR) in the far northwest of the
the capital. Since 2017, the Xinjiang government has
People’s Republic of China (PRC or China). They have
carried out a campaign to forcefully reduce birth rates or
garnered the attention of U.S. policymakers, particularly
“illegal births” among Uyghurs and other minority groups.
since 2018 following reports of the mass internment of
Uyghurs in “reeducation” centers. The facilities were part
Since an outbreak of Uyghur demonstrations and
of an ongoing government effort to systematically
interethnic unrest in 2009, and sporadic clashes involving
transform the thought and behavior of Uyghurs and
Uyghurs and Xinjiang security personnel that spiked
forcefully assimilate them into PRC society, which some
between 2013 and 2015, PRC leaders have carried out large
observers say is destroying Uyghur culture and identity.
scale criminal arrests and intensive security measures in the
The U.S. government has responded by implementing
XUAR, aimed at combatting “terrorism, separatism and
targeted restrictions on trade with Xinjiang and imposing
religious extremism.” Three violent incidents in China in
visa and economic sanctions on some PRC officials.
2014 purportedly carried out by Uyghurs against Han
civilians were described by some outside observers as acts
Uyghurs speak a Turkic language and practice a moderate
of terrorism. Some experts contend that the PRC
form of Sunni Islam. The XUAR, often referred to simply
government has used counterterrorism as a pretext for
as Xinjiang (pronounced “SHIN-jyahng”), is a provincial-
carrying out assimilation policies and mass detentions in
level administrative region that comprises about one-sixth
Xinjiang.
of China’s total land area and borders eight countries. The
region is rich in minerals, produces over 80% of China’s
Forced Assimilation
cotton, and has China’s largest coal and natural gas reserves
Since 2017, in tandem with a national policy referred to as
and a fifth of its oil reserves. PRC officials refer to Xinjiang
“Sinicization,” XUAR authorities have instituted measures
as a “core hub” for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which
to assimilate Uyghurs into Han Chinese society and reduce
involves Chinese-backed infrastructure projects and energy
the influences of Uyghur, Islamic, and Arabic cultures and
development in neighboring Central and South Asia.
languages. The XUAR government enacted a law in 2017
that prohibits “expressions of extremification” and placed
restrictions upon dress and grooming, traditional Uyghur
customs, and adherence to Islamic dietary laws (halal).
Thousands of mosques in Xinjiang have been closed,
demolished, or “Sinicized,” whereby Islamic motifs and
Arabic writings have been removed. The Xinjiang
government reportedly has placed nearly half a million
Uyghur and other minority children in state-run boarding
schools, and has banned the use of Uyghur language in
instruction in all schools in the XUAR.
Mass Internment
Between 2017 and 2019, XUAR authorities, at the behest of

Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping,
Sources: CRS, using U.S. Department of State Boundaries; Esri;
arbitrarily detained over 1 million ethnic Uyghur and other
Global Administrative Areas; DeLorme; NGA.
Muslims in reeducation centers. Detainees generally were
not accused of crimes, but rather were held on the basis of
All or parts of the area comprising Xinjiang have been
past religious, cultural, scholarly, social, and online
under the political control or influence of Chinese,
activities, as well as foreign travel, that the government
Mongols, and Russians for long spans of the region’s
later deemed “extremist,” “pre-criminal,” or potentially
documented history, along with periods of Turkic or
terrorist. Detainees were compelled to renounce many of
Uyghur rule. Uyghurs played a role in the establishment of
their Islamic beliefs and customs as a condition for their
two short-lived, semi-autonomous East Turkestan
release. Treatment in the centers reportedly included food
Republics in the 1930s and 1940s. The PRC asserted
deprivation, psychological pressure, sexual abuse, medical
control over Xinjiang in 1949 and established the XUAR in
neglect, torture, and forced labor. Since 2019, the XUAR
1955. Uyghurs once were the predominant ethnic group in
government appears to have released some detainees, sent
Xinjiang; they now make up roughly half of the region’s
others to factory labor, and prosecuted many as criminals.
population of roughly 25 million, according to official
Leaked Xinjiang police files, which included thousands of
sources. The government long has provided economic
detainee records and images, important party directives, and
incentives for Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group in
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China Primer: Uyghurs
police protocols, revealed the prison-like nature of the
Corps, a state-run paramilitary organization with major
reeducation centers. They also documented the key role that
economic interests in the XUAR. The State Department
Chen Quanguo, Communist Party Secretary of the XUAR
also has announced visa restrictions against Xinjiang
between 2016 and 2022, played in carrying out the policy.
officials and immediate family members pursuant to other
In 2022, the Xinjiang government reported it had
authorities. Separately, the Treasury Department has
prosecuted 540,826 people since 2017; human rights groups
imposed restrictions on U.S. investments in certain PRC
presume many were convicted on political charges. Many
companies involved in the surveillance and tracking of
forms of political indoctrination continue in homes,
religious and ethnic minorities in China.
factories, night schools, and prisons.
Export Controls. Since October 2019, the U.S.
In August 2022, the United Nations Office of the High
Department of Commerce has added nearly 70 companies
Commissioner for Human Rights determined that China’s
and public security entities to the Bureau of Industry and
counterterrorism and counter-“extremism” strategies have
Security (BIS) “entity list” under the Export Administration
led to “interlocking patterns of severe and undue
Regulations (EAR) specifically due to their connection to
restrictions on a wide range of human rights” and may
human rights abuses or repression in Xinjiang. A number of
constitute crimes against humanity. It called on China to
other PRC entities have also been added, due in whole or in
“release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty”
part, to their connection to human rights abuses in China.
and “urgently repeal” all discriminatory laws and policies
The actions impose licensing requirements prior to the sale
against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR.
or transfer of certain U.S. items to these entities, with a
presumption of license denial for most items.
Forced Labor
The PRC government has pressured many Uyghurs,
Forced Labor Import Restrictions. From 2019 to 2021,
including former detainees, into accepting employment in
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a series
textile, apparel, agricultural, consumer electronics, and
of announcements blocking the import of goods suspected
other labor-intensive industries, in Xinjiang and other
of involving Xinjiang-related forced labor pursuant to the
provinces. Some factories utilizing Uyghur labor are tied to
forced labor import ban under Section 307 of the Tariff Act
global supply chains. Uyghurs who refuse to accept such
of 1930. In December 2021, Congress passed and President
employment may face detention.
Biden signed into law the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Act (UFLPA; P.L. 117-78). Among other provisions, the
Selected U.S. Responses
law creates a presumption that goods produced or
Atrocities Determination. On January 19, 2021, the State
manufactured in Xinjiang, or by entities with certain ties to
Department announced that it had determined that the PRC
Xinjiang, are made with forced labor, unless CBP
had committed crimes against humanity and genocide in
affirmatively determines otherwise. Pursuant to the
Xinjiang, and called on multilateral and juridical bodies to
UFLPA, this “rebuttable presumption” went into effect on
pursue accountability. The Biden Administration has
June 21, 2022.
concurred with this determination and has repeatedly
referred to “ongoing” genocide and crimes against
East Turkestan Islamic Movement
humanity in Xinjiang.
The PRC government has attributed some past deadly

incidents in the XUAR to the East Turkestan Islamic
Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. On June 17, 2020,
Movement (ETIM), which it portrays as a Uyghur separatist
then-President Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights
and terrorist group with ties to global terrorist
Policy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-145) into law. The act aims to
organizations. At its height in the late-1990s and early-
impose sanctions on PRC officials determined to be
2000s, ETIM was a small, loosely organized and poorly
responsible for human rights abuses against Uyghurs and
financed group based in Afghanistan and Pakistan that
other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang. The act also
lacked weapons and had little contact with global jihadist
mandated a number of reports from the executive branch on
organizations, according to some experts. The Turkestan
subjects including the extent of human rights violations and
Islamic Party (TIP), which some reports refer to as the
abuses in Xinjiang, the implications for U.S. security and
successor to ETIM, emerged around 2004. The U.S.
economic interests, and U.S. efforts to protect Uyghur-
government designated ETIM as a terrorist organization
Americans and ethnic Uyghurs from China residing in the
under Executive Order 13224 in 2002 (to block terrorist
United States from harassment or intimidation by officials
financing) and in 2004 placed ETIM on the Terrorist
or agents of the PRC government.
Exclusion List (TEL), which bars members of terrorist
groups from entering the United States. The Trump
Targeted Sanctions and Investment Restrictions. The
Administration removed ETIM from the TEL in 2020,
United States has to date publicly designated 10 current or
stating that “for more than a decade, there has been no
former PRC officials for sanctions in relation to human
credible evidence that ETIM continues to exist.” United
rights abuses in Xinjiang, pursuant to Executive Order
Nations sanctions monitors differ in their assessment,
(E.O.) 13818, which implements and builds on the Global
reporting in 2022 that ETIM/TIP had a presence in
Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Title XII,
Afghanistan and Syria.
Subtitle F of P.L. 114-328). Among those designated is
former XUAR Party Secretary Chen Quanguo. Also
Thomas Lum, Specialist in Asian Affairs
designated are two entities, the Xinjiang Public Security
Michael A. Weber, Analyst in Foreign Affairs
Bureau and the Xinjiang Production and Construction
IF10281
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China Primer: Uyghurs


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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF10281 · VERSION 46 · UPDATED

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