|
The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) has reiterated that East Turkistan remains a captive nation under Public Law 86-90 and renewed its appeal to the international community to acknowledge East Turkistan as an occupied country while backing efforts to restore its independence, according to an ETGE press release.
The appeal coincided with the United States' observance of Captive Nations Week from July 19 to 25, the release stated. The Captive Nations Resolution (Public Law 86-90), enacted in 1959, specifically identified Turkistan among the nations subjugated by Communist imperialism and called on the United States to support their aspirations for liberty and national independence. According to the ETGE press release, Chinese Communist forces entered East Turkistan on October 12, 1949, just 11 days after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, leading to the overthrow of the independent East Turkistan Republic on December 22 that year and initiating what it described as a campaign of occupation and colonisation that continues today. The ETGE stated that, 76 years later, China continues to maintain control over East Turkistan and, since 2014, has carried out what it describes as an ongoing campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic communities. The press release further alleged mass internment, forced labour amounting to mass enslavement, and systematic cultural erasure. It added that these policies have been further institutionalised through Beijing's "Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress," adopted on July 1, which, according to the ETGE, legally reinforces forced assimilation, cultural erasure, and transnational repression. The ETGE argued that relying solely on a human rights framework addresses only the consequences rather than what it considers the root issue, China's colonial occupation. "Turkistan, including East Turkistan, was explicitly named in the 1959 Captive Nations Resolution, not as part of China, but as a nation subjugated by Communist imperialism," said Mamtimin Ala, President of the ETGE, as quoted in the press release. "We ask America to honour that truth, and to stand with our people's just struggle to restore our freedom and independence," Ala said. The ETGE further stated that East Turkistan's designation as a captive nation provides a legal basis for US support towards restoring its independence. It urged the US Congress to officially recognise East Turkistan as an occupied country, following what it described as the policy precedent applied to Tibet, and called for the appointment of a Special Coordinator for East Turkistani Issues within the US Department of State. "The restoration of liberty and independence for East Turkistan is not a dream. It is a duty enshrined in the Captive Nations Resolution," said Salih Hudayar, ETGE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security and President of the East Turkistan National Movement, as quoted in the release. "Governments must recognise East Turkistan as an occupied nation and support our people's inalienable right to decolonisation and national independence," Hudayar said. The ETGE also urged the United States, members of Congress, and the broader international community to introduce resolutions reaffirming East Turkistan's status as a captive nation and condemn what it described as 76 years of Chinese occupation. It also called on them to impose targeted sanctions on officials allegedly responsible for the ongoing genocide, counter China's transnational repression and influence operations, and support East Turkistan's decolonisation as well as the full restoration of its national independence and sovereignty. (ANI)
|
