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Xinjiang’s Repression of Uyghurs Has Evolved, Not Ended A rare insider testimony reveals how China tries to hide state violence in Xinjiang

Now let's see ... the hordes of pro-Beijing govt trolls like Vijay Prashad won't like a Chinese policeman with the inside scoop on China's ongoing torture genocide.

Xinjiang’s Repression of Uyghurs Has Evolved, Not Ended
foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/16/c...

From the brilliant scholar, Adrian Zenz

Xinjiang’s Repression of Uyghurs Has Evolved, Not Ended
A rare insider testimony reveals how China tries to hide state violence in Xinjiang

archive.is/en7Mq

Xinjiang’s Repression of Uyghurs Has Evolved, Not Ended A rare insider testimony reveals how China tries to hide state violence in Xinjiang

NEW EVIDENCE: Former Xinjiang police officer (2014–2023) confirms that detentions and forced labor continue today.

From 2023, officials detained Uyghurs who avoided forced labor or allegedly disobeyed state orders.

Thread below:

foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/16/c...

Mandatory reading for two types of people: 1) "I just want to China, it was awesome." 2) "China is taking over the world, stop resisting and just submit."

HOW COERCION WORKS:
Village committees have unilateral authority to order residents to accept labor transfers. Refusal triggers mandatory night school, unpaid communal labor, or up to 15 days in detention facilities.

In 2019, Zhang worked at the Hotan County re-education headquarters where detainee records were falsified and the true scale hidden even from higher-level authorities.

Zhang estimates a quarter of the adult population in his village was interned in re-education camps between 2017–2019, excluding those sent to prisons. Under Ma Xingrui, Chen Quanguo's successor, visible repression campaigns were replaced with hidden coercion.

Zhang observed how Uyghur culture is now nearly extinct: the village he worked in has been largely emptied of working-age adults — many are in prison or shipped away for forced labor. Speaking Uyghur is prohibited in schools. Mosques are closed or guarded 24/7.

Zhang, the former police officer, says that under Ma Xingrui, Chen Quanguo's successor, visible repression campaigns were replaced with hidden coercion. Village committees have unilateral authority to order residents to accept labor transfers. Refusal triggers up to 15 days in detention.

Xinjiang’s Repression of Uyghurs Has Evolved, Not Ended A rare insider testimony reveals how China tries to hide state violence in Xinjiang

NEW EVIDENCE: Former Xinjiang police officer (2014–2023) confirms that detentions and forced labor continue today.

From 2023, officials detained Uyghurs who avoided forced labor or allegedly disobeyed state orders.

Thread below:

foreignpolicy.com/2026/04/16/c...

Thank you

Thank you @yaqiu.bsky.social, Europe really needs to step up now.

UN experts alarmed by reports of forced labour of Uyghur, Tibetan and other minorities across China GENEVA – UN experts* today expressed deep concern regarding persistent allegations of forced labour affecting Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz minority groups as well as Tibetans within the Xinjiang Uyghur A...

"Irreparable harm": Critical new statement from UN Special Procedures highlights strategic nexus between land seizure and an alarming increase in forced labor transfers in Xinjiang and Tibet.

Thread:
www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

I am honored to be appointed to the European Commission's Expert Group on Forced Labor, informing guidelines and indicators for the EU Forced Labor Regulation (EUFLR) through expert meetings in Brussels.

2026 will be pivotal for EUFLR implementation. My focus will be on state-imposed forced labor.

Forced Labor, Coercive Land-Use, Transfers, and Forced Assimilation Forced Labor, Coercive Land-Use, Transfers, and Forced Assimilation in Xinjiang's Agricultural Production By Adrian Zenz and I-Lin Lin Open Access Download (December 2024) Abstract This report on f...

The alarming increase in land transfers and their connection to forced labor was recently documented in our recent report on forced labor in Xinjiang's agricultural production: sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...

"Labour and land transfers forcibly change their agriculture-based or nomadic traditional livelihoods... Consequently, their language, chosen communities, ways of life... are eroded."

This represents a significant precedent—apparently the first time UN Special Procedures have explicitly articulated the causal mechanism between "land grabbing" (land transfers) and the displacement of targeted rural populations into forced wage labor.

Having contributed to the empirical and conceptual data underpinning this assessment, I can attest to the rigor and accuracy of these findings.

Issued by four UN Special Rapporteurs and the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the statement highlights alarming recent increases in coercive labor volumes in both regions and underscores the resulting contamination of global supply chains.

UN experts alarmed by reports of forced labour of Uyghur, Tibetan and other minorities across China GENEVA – UN experts* today expressed deep concern regarding persistent allegations of forced labour affecting Uyghur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz minority groups as well as Tibetans within the Xinjiang Uyghur A...

"Irreparable harm": Critical new statement from UN Special Procedures highlights strategic nexus between land seizure and an alarming increase in forced labor transfers in Xinjiang and Tibet.

Thread:
www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

I am honored to be appointed to the European Commission's Expert Group on Forced Labor, informing guidelines and indicators for the EU Forced Labor Regulation (EUFLR) through expert meetings in Brussels.

2026 will be pivotal for EUFLR implementation. My focus will be on state-imposed forced labor.

New website launched for the International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS) The International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS), led by Dr David Tobin, has launched its website, bringing together researchers from around the world to share critical, policy-relevant wo...

Great to see the International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS) officially launch. I am proud to be part of it.
sheffield.ac.uk/las/news/new...

Major victory: Chinese tomato exports to Italy collapse, following our research report & BBC investigation into tomato-linked Uyghur forced labor and land-grabbing.

Official 2025 customs data confirms the collapse. Over 2/3 of China’s tomato exports are linked to Xinjiang.

Report links below:

Excited to see our 136-page report on Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang's agricultural production & land grabbing now published with University of Sheffield's International Network for Critical China Studies.

sites.google.com/sheffield.ac...

New website launched for the International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS) The International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS), led by Dr David Tobin, has launched its website, bringing together researchers from around the world to share critical, policy-relevant wo...

Great to see the International Network for Critical China Studies (INCCS) officially launch. I am proud to be part of it.
sheffield.ac.uk/las/news/new...

FT article link: ft.com/content/deea...

Our original research report: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Major victory: Chinese tomato exports to Italy collapse, following our research report & BBC investigation into tomato-linked Uyghur forced labor and land-grabbing.

Official 2025 customs data confirms the collapse. Over 2/3 of China’s tomato exports are linked to Xinjiang.

Report links below:

Next week we hold our annual China Forum in Washington, DC, with panels on Transnational Repression, Uyghur forced labor, responding to China's global agenda, and the rising challenge of techno-authoritarianism.

Registration link and list of speakers below: 👇