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The World Uyghur Congress (WUC), in its latest weekly brief, highlighted new research documenting China's expanding efforts to exert pressure on Uyghurs living outside the country, alongside developments involving Uyghur cultural participation in Europe and growing concerns over China's new law governing ethnic unity and progress.
According to the WUC brief, a new peer-reviewed report by researcher Adrian Zenz and co-author Iliqud Muetter examines China's evolving transnational repression targeting the Uyghur diaspora. The study finds that Beijing's increasing willingness to allow Uyghurs living abroad to travel to East Turkistan to visit family members has, in some cases, been accompanied by intensified surveillance, interrogation and pressure. The report documents accounts from Uyghurs who said they were questioned upon returning to China and were shown photographs taken of them abroad without their knowledge. Some interviewees were reportedly questioned about Uyghur activists and diaspora communities, while others said they were offered employment opportunities or assistance with family travel permits in exchange for providing information about Uyghurs living overseas. The researchers describe this broader strategy as "Transnational Authoritarian Control", arguing that Beijing combines repression with co-optation and manipulation to extend mechanisms of domestic control beyond China's borders. As cited in the WUC weekly brief, the researchers warn that such practices are contributing to fear and mistrust within Uyghur diaspora communities. They could also discourage Uyghurs from speaking publicly, providing testimony or engaging in activism, while making contact with relatives in East Turkistan a potential instrument of state pressure. Meanwhile, the WUC brief also highlighted Uyghur participation in the 9th Kurultaj - Hungarian Tribal Assembly, which began on August 13. The major cultural gathering brings together Hungarian and Turkic communities to celebrate shared history, traditions and cultural heritage. Uyghurs have traditionally participated in the Kurultaj, and this year the community was represented by WUC Foundation President Erkin Emet, Stop Uyghur Genocide Executive Director Rahima Mahmut, Uyghur scholar Alimjan Inayat and a Uyghur dance group. According to the WUC, the East Turkistan flag was displayed on the main stage during the opening ceremony alongside the flags of other participating communities. Uyghur artists also performed traditional dances, providing an opportunity to showcase Uyghur cultural heritage and strengthen cultural links with other Turkic communities attending the gathering. The WUC weekly brief further reported that its China Affairs Committee held an online seminar on August 13 focusing on China's newly introduced Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress. The seminar examined the legislation's background and key provisions, as well as its potential political, legal, social and international implications for ethnic communities and human rights. The discussion featured human rights lawyer and legal scholar Dr Teng Biao and Sawut Muhammed, Director of the WUC China Affairs Committee. The session was moderated by Nuria Zyden, President of the Ireland Uyghur Cultural Association. According to the WUC brief, the speakers examined the broader direction of China's ethnic policies under the new legislation and discussed its potential consequences for Uyghurs and other ethnic communities. Taken together, the developments highlighted in the WUC's weekly brief point to what the organisation describes as a widening challenge for the Uyghur community: pressure that extends beyond China's borders, concerns over the implications of Beijing's evolving ethnic policies, and continued efforts by Uyghurs in the diaspora to preserve and publicly promote their cultural identity. (ANI)
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