November 12th marks the Declaration of East Turkistan’s Independence Day.
China’s Communist regime is well known for its lies and false claims. The claim that “Xinjiang” aka “East Turkistan” has been part of China “since ancient times” is not only laughable but it is a blatant lie on historical ground. For the record this must be corrected.
Despite almost 2000 years of contact with East Turkistan, China never really established direct rule over the region until the late 19th century. Various dynasties briefly occupied parts of the region, brought parts of it into tributary relations, and manipulated local politics, but it was never successfully integrated into China’s empire.
In 1877, the Manchu Qing Dynasty invaded East Turkistan. After its formal annexation, in 1884, the Qing named the region “Xinjiang,” meaning “New Territory” in Mandarin. Han and Hui people (Chinese Muslims) were brought in and settled in China’s “New Territory”. After enduring nearly 50 years of foreign occupation, East Turkistani people regained their independence and declared East Turkistan Republic on 12 November 1933. Since then, the people of East Turkistan have celebrated this historic day as their country’s Independence Day. However, the country’s independence was short-lived due to the Soviet and Chinese invasion on 16 April 1934. Inspired by their past resistance and achievement, the amazing leaders and people of East Turkistan continued their freedom struggle movement over the next decade. They regained their independence on 12 November 1944 but lost it to the Communist China five years later.
East Turkistan and the People’s Republic of China
China’s long Civil War between Mao Tsetung-led Communist Party of China (CCP) and the ruling Kuomintang Government, led by Chiang Kai-Shek (The Nationalist – Republic of China), resulted in the overthrow of the Kuomintang Government. Chiang Kai-Shek fled to Formosa (now Taiwan), where the democratic Republic of China (ROC) is flourishing. In Peking, Mao Tsetung declared the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) on 1st October 1949. This changed the fate of the people of East Turkistan forever. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops marched in and invaded East Turkistan on 12 October 1949. The independent East Turkistan Republic was forcibly overthrown a few months later on 22 December. Top leaders in East Turkistan’s Government were assassinated in a “mysterious plane crash”. China’s continued occupation and oppression of the East Turkistani people continues to this day.
After Xi Jinping came to power, especially since 2014, the Chinese State has been engaging in a genocide campaign that has resulted in the internment of several million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic people in concentration camps, prisons, and labour camps. Independent rights groups and UN findings show that Uyghur and other Turkic detainees were subjected to forced indoctrination, torture, rape and sexual abuse, as well as organ harvesting, all of which constitute crimes against humanity. Government officials, parliaments, lawyers and rights groups worldwide have condemned the People’s Republic of China for committing genocide and human rights violations against the Uyghurs Muslims and other persecuted minorities.
Uyghurs and other Turkic people have consistently resisted China’s illegal occupation of their homelands whilst demanding the restoration of their rightful independence over the past seven decades. China claims that there were a total of 13.5 million Turkic population in East Turkistan as of 2015. However, the Uyghurs estimate this number to be around 30 million. Other non-Chinese ethnic groups including Kazakhs, Kryghyz, Mongols, Salurs, Tajiks, Uzbeks also number around 5 million. China’s continued invasion of East Turkistan meant that there are an estimated 12 million Chinese settlers from China in the “New Terrority”.
Xinjiang is officially known as the “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” (XUAR) by China’s authorities and they use it in their official communication with international partners. However, the Uyghurs and those persecuted minorities in China-occupied East Turkistan defy this imposition and name change of their homelands. It is evident that the occupied region has been a subject of international attention, particularly human rights issues, genocide and cultural suppression.
It is vital to note that China’s continued efforts to secure seats in international bodies such as the Human Rights Council has its own cunning interest. Beijing doesn’t want to be scrutinized by Member States on its appalling human rights records against its own people as well as those in East Turkistan and Tibet. China seeks these global forums to exert its interests, including rewriting what human rights meant from the CCP’s perspective and then imposing it upon the international community.
tsamtruk.com