{"id":1748,"date":"2020-06-26T23:59:29","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T14:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2020-06-26T23:59:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T14:59:29","slug":"being-muslim-means-youre-never-safe-from-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/2020\/06\/26\/being-muslim-means-youre-never-safe-from-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Muslim means you’re never safe from China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY NURY TURKEL AND GARY BAUER, OPINION CONTRIBUTORS \u2014\u00a006\/24\/20 09:00 AM EDT\u00a0\u00a0133<\/a>THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
https:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/congress-blog\/civil-rights\/504228-being-muslim-means-youre-never-safe-from-china?fbclid=IwAR3D55GYeLjK1019zYKpXp_hBXdsFWWUd_kKxXlmN4kn3iJbprbfkUlNoDw<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most people, traveling abroad can lead to exciting opportunities and exposure to new cultures. For Muslims from China, traveling abroad can put friends and family at home at risk. In December 2015, Abduhaliq Aziz<\/a>, a young Muslim from the ancient city of Kashgar, moved to Cairo to study at the renowned Al-Azhar University. Shortly thereafter, Chinese authorities retaliated by detaining Aziz\u2019s parents. Several years after Ablikim Yusuf<\/a>, a Uyghur Muslim, moved to Pakistan for work, he received a message over WeChat: his brother was in a reeducation camp. Last summer, Qatari authorities nearly deported Yusuf to China while he was transiting through Doha airport; only public outrage and U.S. diplomacy allowed him to settle in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least Aziz and Yusuf are free. Millions of Muslims back in China aren\u2019t so fortunate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2017, the Chinese government has detained an estimated 1.8 million<\/a> Uyghur, Kazakh, and other Muslims in concentration camps across the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Leaked government documents<\/a> show that many of these individuals were targeted because of their religious practices, such as growing a beard or wearing a veil, not because they posed a security risk. As part of this sinification campaign, nearly half a million Muslim children have been separated<\/a> from their families and placed in boarding schools, where they are taught to obey the party and reject Islam.ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese government\u2019s persecution of its Muslim population is unique not just because of its scale and ruthlessness, but also because of the lengths to which it goes to pursue Muslims outside its borders. The government has submitted extradition requests to Turkey<\/a>, Kazakhstan<\/a>, Uzbekistan<\/a>, Malaysia<\/a>, and other countries for Muslims who fled China. In 2017, Egyptian authorities rounded up dozens of Uyghur students and deported<\/a> them to China. When it can\u2019t seize individuals who have fled abroad, the government often detains their families back in China. In a particularly cruel move, in 2018 Dr. Gulshan Abbas<\/a> was disappeared in an attempt to silence her sister, Rushan Abbas, an outspoken Uyghur-American activist based in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chinese agents have also harassed<\/a> Uyghur Muslims who have become citizens or permanent residents in other countries, especially those vocal in criticizing the Communist Party\u2019s human rights record. Uyghurs in the United States<\/a>, Europe<\/a>, Canada<\/a>, and Australia<\/a> have reported receiving threatening phone calls to obtain personal information or being tracked by Chinese diplomats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to the Communist Party\u2019s propaganda, the Chinese government\u2019s war on faith<\/a> is not simply a domestic issue. It affects Muslims around the world, from Istanbul to Indiana. It affects our fellow citizens, our colleagues, our neighbors, and our families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our 2020 Annual Report<\/a>, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that the U.S. government continue and increase efforts to counter Chinese influence operations designed to suppress religious freedom advocacy. The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act<\/a>, which Congress recently passed<\/a> and President Donald Trump<\/a> signed<\/a>, makes important progress by requiring the FBI and State Department to report on Chinese attempts to intimidate U.S. citizens, ethnic Uyghurs, and Chinese nationals in the United States. U.S. diplomats should inform other governments \u2014 particularly those in Muslim-majority countries \u2014 of the threat to their citizens and encourage them to take steps to protect them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n