Communist China's horrific human rights abuses

By Ron Boat

Editor's note: This is the second part of a two-part interview with East Turkistan Prime Minister-in-exile Salih Hudayar. Read Part 1.

We've seen that no man, or country, lives alone in this world. And the view of the future is oft seen in the actions of those oppressors who currently exert their will and presence on others.

We continue our look at the invasion, oppression and torture of a free people at the hands of a dictatorial, domineering China. Again, our thanks to Prime Minister Salih Hudayar for his time in highlighting this blight on the lives of the East Turkistan Uyghurs.

Ron Boat: China's history of human rights abuses is well-documented and certainly relevant here. It's known for its labor camps, prisons and violent concentration camps. Are the ones in your own country to detain and punish your own people, or are they for people brought in from other areas of China? How many of these facilities exist in your nation?

Salih Hudayar: According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, since 2016, the Chinese government has built over 1,300 so-called "reeducation" concentration camps across East Turkistan, which hold over 3 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks and other Turkic peoples. Several hundreds of new prisons were also built across East Turkistan holding several million people. China claims these facilities are for "reeducation," but really its to collectively punish our people and prevent East Turkistan's independence as defined in China's 2019 defense strategy whitepaper. People in the camps and prisons are being tortured, raped, sterilized, and many prisoners' organs are being harvested. There are also several dozen massive labor camps run by the Bingtuan (Paramilitary Production Corp), which was set up in 1954 to colonize East Turkistan.

Chinese labor Camps & Prisons – used with permission.

Organ Harvesting, Forced Abortions, Labor Camps

RB: We've heard reports of China's weapons testing, biological violations, religious incarcerations, organ harvesting, abortion misuse and others. What other human rights abuses have there been in general or against the Uighurs themselves?

SH: Aside from nuclear testing, mass internment, organ harvesting and abortions, the Chinese government has been coercing Uyghur and other Turkic women to marry Chinese men in a bid to eradicate the future of our nation's existence. Over 500,000 Uyghur and other Turkic children have been forcibly separated from their families and sent to state-run orphanages and boarding schools to be culturally and politically indoctrinated as loyal Chinese citizens.

Hundreds of thousands if not millions of our youth have been forcibly transferred to Chinese provinces, especially more recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, to be used as slave labor in factories producing shoes for Nike, Skechers, Adidas and clothing for H&M, Gap, Zara and many others, consumer electronics for Apple, LG, Huawei and so forth. At the same time the Chinese government is settling thousands of Chinese settlers into East Turkistan on a daily basis.

RB: Are there any major issues China feels threatened by and therefore feels the need to control your people, or is it strictly an invasion and occupational issue?

Demonstration with Prime Minister Hudayar – used with permission.

SH: As defined in China's national defense strategy, it's all about preventing East Turkistan's independence. China is threatened that majority of the East Turkistan's people will push for independence, thus it is strictly an issue of a genocide resulting from invasion, occupation and colonization.

RB: China has also been accused of violations of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) with its development of "dual-use" biological applications. Is the COVID-19 pandemic an example of this, and how can a dual-virus program really have more than one intended use? Is this going on in your area as well as Wuhan?

SH: China has not been transparent in relation to COVID-19 in remaining oppositional to an independent inquiry regarding the origins of this pandemic and the initial spread of the disease. An example is their threat of economic ramifications (made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang) if the Australian government continues to pursue such an inquiry. It is very much the responsibility of and in the best interest of China to cooperate with the international community on understanding where COVID-19 came from and hence how to prevent another of these pandemics in the future. By cooperating, they can then prove the world wrong if this allegation is not true. Their resistance may be an indication that they indeed have something to hide as to how this pandemic started; if they have no concerns in this regard then they will be happy to cooperate with the international community on a transparent and independent inquiry.

RB: We know that your area is rich in oil and other natural resources. Has China exercised its control to confiscate these resources? They've certainly demonstrated their force against your country for what they claim are "environmental abuses."

SH: Absolutely. Despite East Turkistan being a very rich country in terms of natural and mineral resources such as oil, natural gas, gold, silver, uranium, jade, iron, copper, tungsten, and coal, the people of East Turkistan live in extreme poverty. All the rich and fertile areas of East Turkistan have been exclusively occupied by the Chinese colonists. The people of East Turkistan don't receive any of the wealth that our own land produces; instead its robbed by China, and the Chinese government uses that wealth that empowers China and its people.

RB: In the day-to-day living conditions for your people, what are those major issues that oppress them, that make life less enjoyable and productive than they would like and deserve?

Prime Minister Salih Hudayar – provided & used with permission.

SH: The fact that we lost our independence and the freedoms that come with it is something that makes life less enjoyable and unproductive for us. It almost makes life meaningless for us. On a daily basis, the people of East Turkistan are constantly harassed, abused and humiliated by the Chinese occupation forces and Chinese colonists. The Chinese government has declared our people as "enemies of the state and people" and treats us as if we are not even human. No one is able to travel outside of our neighborhood without hitting a checkpoint. There's not being able to worship at all, not being able to learn our history and language, being forcibly married off to Chinese men, having our children forcibly separated, and not knowing when the oppression will end and when and if we will be reunited with our family members. These are among the issues that oppress us constantly.

RB: There are many beautiful areas in your country with its flowing rivers and green valleys, mountains and colorful plains. Professor Takada Jun has revealed that the Chinese government carried out 46 surface nuclear tests from 1964 to 1996. And you say that much of your country has been destroyed (specifically your largest lake, Lop Nur region) by China's presence including this nuclear testing. Are we to believe that their nuclear testing has caused 750,000 deaths? What have you or your people locally observed to support reporting these activities?

SH: In 1928 Lop Nor lake covered over 3,100 square kilometers (1,200 square miles), but due to Chinese constructions of dams in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, along with nuclear testing in the area, the lake ultimately dried up. China conducted a total of 46 nuclear tests of which 18 were conducted underground The total yield of those conducted above ground was 16,420 kilotons with the largest single test being 4,000 kilotons. Dr. Takada Jun estimates that some 750,000 deaths have been caused by nuclear testing after comparing the nuclear tests with other tests and the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which totaled 34 kilotons and killed anywhere from 129,000 to 226,000 people. …

The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War founded that the estimates of radioactivity that was released across the entire region was roughly 48 kg of pulverized plutonium. Inhalation or ingestion of one-millionth of a gram can cause damage to the kidneys, as well as liver or lung cancer. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), states that the doses recorded in cities close to the test site in Lop Nor are high enough to cause malformations and cancers in babies which were confirmed in the 1998 British Documentary titled "Death on the Silk Road." East Turkistan has the highest mortality rate of all the 28 provinces and regions under the control of Communist China.

For more information on the East Turkstan Government in Exile visit:https://east-turkistan.net/.

Salih Hudayar is a Uyghur American activist born in East Turkistan and raised in Oklahoma. He is the founder of the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM). He is currently pursuing a Masters in National Security Studies at the American Military University. Follow him on Twitter @SalihHudayar.

Ron Boat is a veteran and corporate marketing and media producer/writer for his own production company. He also writes social commentary and interviews with top military, intelligence and government officials. He can be contacted through [email protected].