WHEN the authorities manage to lure or drag home a fugitive accused of corruption, they crow. But they are quieter about their equally successful campaign to repatriate Uighurs, a mostly Muslim ethnic group from Xinjiang, in China’s far west. Many Uighurs chafe at the growing presence of Han Chinese in their region, and at increasing restrictions on their personal and religious freedom. Some travel abroad, both to escape this repression and for more mundane reasons. A small number have become radicalised, and have launched terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and elsewhere. But in addition to hunting for fugitive extremists, China is also trying to prevent a big Uighur diaspora forming that could foment support for Uighurs in China, much as Tibetan exiles campaign to free their homeland.
According to human-rights groups hundreds of Uighurs have been forced back to China in the past decade from Egypt, Thailand, Vietnam and elsewhere. Far more have...Continue reading
Source: China https://ift.tt/2GewDb6
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