Germany raises concerns over human rights situation in Xinjiang
Published: 15 October 2020 Author: Stefan Talmon
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China is the country’s largest administrative region, making up one sixth of Chinese territory. The region was first officially named “Xinjiang” – which literally means “New Borderlands” – and given the status of a provincial administrative area by the Chinese Emperor in 1764. It borders Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. Its geographic location gives it a strategic position in Central Asia. In recent years, oil and mineral reserves have been found in Xinjiang which make it China’s largest natural gas-producing region. With only some 25 million inhabitants, it is sparsely populated. The region’s native population is the Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking mainly Muslim ethnic group, which is culturally and ethnically close to other Central Asian nations. Initially the predominant majority population, today it makes up only some 45 percent of the inhabitants. Over time, more and more Han Chinese moved to the region, who today account for at least 40 percent of the population. The rest is made up by several other, smaller ethnic groups. This has led to inter-ethnic tensions. (more…)