Some in the West tell us that there is something worrying happening in Xinjiang. But what is the truth. I’ve been going there every year for a while now, and you can too. Tens of millions of tourists go there every year. You need no permit. Just get on the plane and go. Here’s what I and millions of others have found. Not only has the Uygur population in Xinjiang increased, it has increased more than the Han population over recent years and the past few decades. China pays subsidies for minorities, including Hui, Uygur, and Tajik, to have more children. This is the reality which runs contrary to accusations from the west. Chinese minorities, such as the Uygurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China, also receive more favorable university placement.
Meanwhile, the US is using sanctions to economically punish the Chinese people of Xinjiang, the Uygurs, Han, Hui, and other Chinese groups therein, on the basis of a lie. The UN Human Rights Council has told the US to lift its illegal sanctions.1
The US, in violation of international law and norms put sanctions on the region of Xinjiang, punishing the local people, including Uygurs economically. One of the claims the US made in their illegal bout to damage the people’s livelihood in Xinjiang has been an unproven claim of forced labor, particularly in cotton harvesting. Well, I personally went to the cotton fields of Xinjiang, and I found automated harvesting for hundreds of kilometers of exploration. No forced labor in sight. UN Special Human Rights Rapporteur weighed in on Xinjiang: Faulting the USA, not China. The UN Human Right Council report says: “I call therefore on sanctioning parties to lift and suspend all unilateral sanctions applied to China, Chinese nationals and companies without authorization of the UN Security Council, and the use of which cannot be justified as normal business activity in the form of retortions or countermeasures in accordance with international law.”
If caring people support Uygurs, stop letting the US brutally punish them with illegal sanctions. Support normal trade for the region of Xinjiang and all its inhabitants.
One claim in particular is easy to refute. Many in the west, in light of the facts, walked back their definition of genocide, saying the language and culture of Uygurs is being erased. All one needs to do is visit Xinjiang to see this is patently false. In Xinjiang everything from street signs, to soda, is bilingual in Uygur and Chinese.
The Shared Future Institute 
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