Chinese Curbs Leave Uyghur Youth in Crisis

By RADIO FREE ASIA
February 06, 2008

Chinese curbs on the traditional Muslim culture of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region have left Uyghur youth in crisis, according to experts and Uyghurs at home and overseas.

According to exiled Uyghur businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, for many years the Uyghur people were able to preserve their identity and way of life under Chinese rule, which began after the demise of a short-lived East Turkestan republic in the late 1930s and 1940s.

"We never heard of Uyghurs stealing, picking pockets, or robbing people," said Kadeer, who came to the United States in 2005 after serving a prison term in Xinjiang for attempting to meet with a human-rights delegation of the U.S. Congress.

But she accused Beijing of beginning a concerted attack on Uyghur traditions in 1987, saying the authorities began to move "common criminals" into the region from other parts of China.

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