Pakistan raises treatment of Uyghurs with China
The Nation, a respected Pakistani newspaper, has this noteworthy report:
Pakistan has demanded China to soften restrictions on Chinese Muslims living in Xinjiang province. Federal Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri while meeting Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing said that strict regulations and laws fuel extremism and in order to curb intolerance and promote religious harmony China should deal with patience.
The minister proposed that Pakistani religious scholars can visit the troubled region and can play their role in ending extremist ideology and promote moderate thinking.
The Chinese ambassador promised that his government will soon facilitate Pakistani delegation of religious scholars to visit Xinjiang province.
The article also notes that earlier this year, the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly “through a unanimous resolution urged the federal government to take urgent steps for the release of over 50 Chinese wives of Gilgit-Baltistan men detained in Xinjiang.”
This would seem to be the first official response from a Muslim majority country to growing global concerns about the situation in Xinjiang.
Other new writing on the worsening situation in Xinjiang:
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Calls grow for U.N. action on China’s Muslim ‘re-education camps’ / Reuters
“France and Germany have called on China to close ‘re-education camps’ in its restive far western region of Xinjiang.” -
Time for China scholars to speak up on rights abuses in Xinjiang / SCMP
An open letter by Kevin Carrico of Macquarie University and godfather of China legal studies Jerome A. Cohen urging scholars and others to sign up for their Xinjiang Initiative. -
Editorial: Will Donald Trump stand up to China? / NYT (porous paywall)
“He’s cracking down over trade, but it’s urgent that he protest Beijing’s human rights abuses as well.” - China says booming tourism shows everything is fine in crackdown-hit Xinjiang / Daily Telegraph
