Over the last decade the Chinese government has used surveillance, detention and forced labor to suppress resistance from Uyghurs. The Diplomat reports that now the government has launched a propaganda blitz for domestic and foreign tourists inviting them to come visit the Uyghur region, to “see for themselves” that it’s “safe and good”. But the bustling shopping streets, food stalls and fake dance performances can’t paint over modern slavery hiding behind the facade.  

Forced labor and prison used to “decapitate” Uyghurs

China began persecuting the Uyghur people in 2017 through the forced disappearance of cultural leaders, artists and scholars. Effectively silencing any divergent voices. Detainees are forced into modern slavery not just in Xinjiang, but across China with recent evidence pointing to Uyghur forced labor even being used abroad, and those are the lucky ones. Hundreds of thousands of others are sent to prison with decades-long virtual death sentences.  

The Diplomat writes: 

“All this points to the intended outcome of the entire genocide project: The breaking and eradication of Uyghur identity – while fashioning Chinese-speaking factory workers out of the survivors.” 

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