#uyghur — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #uyghur, aggregated by home.social.
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The Chinese government is placing heavy restrictions on Uyghur Australians visiting their homeland
This includes surveillance and monitoring while in the Uyghur Region and in some cases being interrogated about activities of the Uyghur community in Australia, according to research by Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org/news/2026/08/16/australia-chinese-government-menaces-uyghur-diaspora
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Slavery was abolished in 1807*
Slavery and forced labour is alive and well in Xinjiang. Major retailers complicit. Welcome to ‘cotton laundering’
August 2026
Many people believe that slavery ended sometime in the 19th Century and many – certainly older people reading this – think that Britain led the way. Slavery continued for many years afterwards. The reality is that slavery is alive and well and that you are wearing the products of this vile system while sat reading this. You may feel that you have purchased your cotton garments from a respectable high street retailer so this surely cannot be the case. If you watch the video in the RTE programme [link below], they will explain how retailers such as M&S who feature strongly in the film, are evading controls with vague labelling.
The story of cotton
Around 80% of cotton production in China comes from Xinjiang, using forced labour from the Uyghur which represents 20% of the global cotton production. Following an uproar and call to action in 2020 that called on numerous fashion brands (such as Nike, Adidas, Zara, H&M, Amazon, etc) to sever ties with Uyghur forced labour, many of these brands decided apparently to stop sourcing cotton from Xinjiang. If we were to ask these brands today about their commitment to Uyghur rights, they would answer that Uyghur forced labour has been cut from their supply chain. (Photo is one of the major companies involved in China).
However, the reality is not that simple. Cotton production has not reduced in the region since 2020; instead, Chinese manufacturers have resorted to “cotton laundering”. Once the cotton has been transformed into yarn or fabric, the cotton enters the supply chain through third countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam. This results in cotton that is extremely difficult to trace.
Cotton laundering
Some brands may claim that having the label ‘Better Cotton’ to claim that their supply chains are ethical. However as investigated by RTÉ, it appears that “the Better Cotton can be mixed or blended with what they call conventional cotton very early on in the supply chain, and that includes cotton from the Uyghur region“. The RTE film (5 mins) can be viewed here.
Although companies have acted on demands to stop using suppliers that rely on Uyghur forced labour, it can be easy to imagine that cotton harvested in Xinjiang finds its way to those factories through cotton laundering. That is why we are asking you today to write a question to a company that produces apparel which contains cotton to ask them what processes and safeguards are in place to ensure forced labour is not present in their supply chains.
Research published by Sheffield Hallam University shows in detail how the system works and contains much evidence. They say that previous research has provided significant evidence indicating that these programmes are indeed tantamount to forced labour, human trafficking, and modern slavery and that this system of repression is particularly deployed in the cotton and textile industries, which for China are centred in the Uyghur Region. Reports have shown that much of the region’s cotton is hand-picked by people who are forced to do so, that textile factories in the Uyghur Region employ forced labour, and that minority citizens of the region have been “transferred” thousands of miles into the interior of China to work in factories for major textile and apparel exporters.
The notion of slavery today is universally condemned. Britain was heavily involved in the trade for nearly two centuries transporting well over 3 million in the triangular trade. Many are often surprised to discover that the slave owners (not the slaves) were compensated and the debt was only paid off in 2015.
As we have noted before, although Xinjiang seems a long way off and few will have been there, the products of this obnoxious and cruel system are sitting on the clothing racks of our major high street retailers and hence in your wardrobes. Truly we are all involved.
[*Quite when slavery ended is difficult to be precise. Many ships simply reflagged to avoid patrols. Slavery persisted for decades in the Caribbean and America. Slaves were still transferred between countries. A separate act was later passed to end the practice in India. Freed slaves simply became indentured.]
Letter
This is a sample letter to a retailer or manufacturer to model yours on. It is likely you will receive a standard reply but it will register with the retailer that they are being watched and if not careful, they could receive reputational damage:
Dear xx,
I am writing to express my concern as to the possibility that your cotton products contain cotton produced in Xinjiang using Uyghur forced labour.
One tactic used by Chinese manufacturers to sell cotton produced by forced labour and internal displacement of Uyghur population is “cotton laundering”. These companies will transform cotton into yarn or fabric and then introduce them to global chains through third countries such as Bangladesh or Vietnam. As a result, the origin of the cotton is extremely difficult to trace.
In addition, the label “Better Cotton” does not prevent products from containing cotton produced through forced labour. The Better Cotton Initiative does not have a traceability protocol and enable mixed or blended cotton with ethically sourced material. Cotton from the Uyghur region may very well be present in those mixes or blends.
As a concerned consumer, I would like to ask you: what protocols and safeguards do you have in place to absolutely ensure that none of the cotton present in your garments is a result of Uyghur forced labour? How do you verify that the cotton used in your garment does not come from Xinjiang?
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Yours sincerely,We have drawn from material produced by RTE (Ireland), Sheffield Hallam University, Statista and from the Uyghur Solidarity Team with thanks.
- Slavery was abolished in 1807*
- Uyghur campaign progress
- Another vigil and is the mood changing in the US?
- Are American attitudes towards Israel changing?
- Latest Death Penalty Report
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China’s ‘Ethnic Unity’ Law is Already Harming Uyghurs
"The damage caused by China’s ethnic unity law is no longer hypothetical. Governments must respond with urgency before forced assimilation and transnational repression become even more deeply entrenched."
https://thediplomat.com/2026/08/chinas-ethnic-unity-law-is-already-harming-uyghurs/
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Reading books can get you killed
Reading a Uyghur book can lead to serious punishment
August 2026
This is not the Middle Ages. This is the 21st Century. But the desire of the Chinese to extinguish Uyghur culture can lead to draconian consequences. This short piece and the book, were created by the Amnesty Death Penalty project.
So often, we take our books for granted. But if you are Uyghur, reading, promoting or writing books in the Uyghur language – even children’s text books – can land you in serious trouble. In fact it can and has on a number of occasions, resulted in a death sentence. This is all part of the Chinese government’s attempts to suppress the Uyghur language, culture and identity. Too many governments around the world use the death penalty as a means of intimidating ordinary people into compliance. Books, things that we take for granted in the West, can be very dangerous for Uyghurs which is why the Anti-Death Penalty Project has created a book (كىتاب) to show our solidarity. ‘Thank you so much Death Penalty Network for such a beautiful and thoughtful project!
The Salisbury group publishes a report each month on the use of the penalty around the world. It does not include China as executions are a state secret. The country is believed to execute more of its citizens than the rest of the world put together.
Previous #books #CCP #China #维吾尔 #DeathPenalty #Uyghur #UyghurSolidarityMonth #死刑 #中国 #书 -
Growing up Uyghur in Xinjiang: how a forbidden romance novel opened two hidden worlds at once
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/aug/05/a-moment-that-changed-me-i-found-a-forbidden-novel-it-led-to-a-dangerous-lasting-love
Growing up in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, romance was frowned upon – as was much of my Uyghur culture. But one day, exploring a strange house, I found a gateway to both worlds Many people have a…
#lifestyle #uyghur #books -
Bosses are always keen to “reduce the cost of labour” - #incarceratedworkers
(Note: Australia does not have a ban on products made with #forcedlabour
#Leggo suppliers Hetian Latitude is run by the #Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), China state-run paramilitary organisation.)#4Corners #Capitalism #cheapness #dupes #exploitation #journalism #supermarkets #tomatoes #Uyghur
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Tibetan, Uyghur and Hong Kong communities in Australia are united in their opposition to China's "ethnic unity" law
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-16/communities-condemn-china-ethnic-unity-law/106918618
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Joint Statement: Rejecting Beijing’s “Ethnic Unity Law” and Transnational Repression
Signed by 39 community groups representing Hong Kong, Tibet, East Turkistan, Southern Mongolia and Taiwan
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Have they considered not being a fascist?
https://piefed.social/c/tankiejerk/p/2175726/have-they-considered-not-being-a-fascist
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China's new "ethnic unity" law which comes into effect on 1 July violates human rights and contravenes domestic and international law
“This law criminalizes aspects of people’s and communities’ identities the authorities deem problematic,” said Shane Yi, researcher at CHRD. “This approach has nothing to do with unity, and everything to do with punishing legally protected characteristics.”
https://www.nchrd.org/2026/06/china-new-ethnic-unity-law-legalizes-discrimination-repression/
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Two things can be bad at once - don't make the mistake of thinking power cedes anything without a fight
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A new report by the Uyghur Human Rights Project says that Japan and Australia are at greater risk of importing products made by Uyghur forced labour. This is a result of stricter regulations in the US and EU pushing goods into alternative markets
"The report concludes that forced labor risks are not being eliminated from global supply chains but are instead being redistributed to markets that lack effective import controls."
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UN Human Rights Office Reiterates Concerns Over Uyghur Rights in Xinjiang
> The United Nations Human Rights Office has reiterated its concerns over what it describes as “severe” human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan, despite ongoing international scrutiny of the region.
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Militants, rebels, terrorists or resistance fighters?
#syria #uyghur #xinjiang #han #china #ccp #socialcohesion #terrorism
https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/foreign-fighters-who-helped-topple-assad-and-why-china-worries-about-them -
We hear a lot about China's persecution of Uyghurs and almost nothing about Uyghur terrorists but here's a nugget from 2019. As always, one man's terrorism is another man's resistance. Or is it? #terrorism #uyghur #xinjiang #china #ccp #socialcohesion https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/chinese-uyghurs-international-terrorists-or-terrorised-minority/
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"Muh material conditions tho"
https://piefed.social/c/political_memes/p/2123133/muh-material-conditions-tho
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"Muh material conditions tho"
https://piefed.social/c/tankiejerk/p/2123131/muh-material-conditions-tho
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CIAnarchists won't stop listening to Uyghurs, smh
https://piefed.social/c/tankiejerk/p/2118377/cianarchists-won-t-stop-listening-to-uyghurs-smh
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on becoming a gun for hire - #Uyghur groups in #Syria
The foreign fighters who helped topple Assad — and why #China worries about them https://www.npr.org/2026/05/17/g-s1-113270/uyghurs-china-syria-war-fighters- rebels-bashar-al-assad
#ethnicconflict #terrorists #revolutionaries #repression #resistance #wordchoice
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Horseshoe theory is bullshit. Liberalism is a disease. Liberal is, in fact, an insult used by fascists and leftists alike, for different reasons. Liberals and fascists are both morally corrupt and spiritually bankrupt. But these are just descriptors.
Fascists insult liberals for weakness, diversity, proceduralism, or insufficient ethnonational purity.
Leftists insult liberals for collaboration with domination while pretending neutrality.
Same word, different indictment. The key distinction is function.
A liberal government may speak of human rights while backing massacres. A fascist movement may discard the human-rights language and embrace domination more openly.
Different rhetoric, sometimes overlapping material outcomes.
I won't speak about theory in a vacuum, but let's talk about historical and material conditions and the imperial boomerang across settler-colonial states, imperial powers, and postcolonial formations shaped by empire. Let's start there.
– an Indonesian in Indonesia
(In case you think the political spectrum translates cleanly to every corner of the world while global power structures heavily rely on exploitative systems of racial and gender hierarchy and extraction, think again, and this is me being polite)#politics #imperialism #westernimperialism #malesupremacy #authoritarianism #womensrights #muslimvoice #Indonesia #Palestine #Iran #Yemen #WestPapua #Cuba #TimorLeste #Sudan #Congo #Rwanda #SaudiArabia #UAE #Venezuela #Nigeria #Rohingya #Uyghur #China #DPRK #SouthKorea #Japan #ComfortWomen #Kurds #Kurdistan #Syria #Lebanon #Libya #Afghanistan #Iraq
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»Zhang was part of this system: He ensured no one went to mosques, he searched phones & compiled files. … Chat groups … documented who was sick & who skipped the mandatory Chinese class. [For arrests] hints on #Uyghur rituals were sufficient: a song, a poem, a prayer. Sometimes, police officers invented things, such as villagers playing basketball. Anyone who does sport and keeps fit is suspicious, a potential terrorist. “Anyone could be arrested at any time.”« #China
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Talked to a friend I've not spoken to in a while, and it seems he's been sucked into the #China disinformation sphere and fully sees it as the world's only hope.
While I get it somewhat - the search for a "savoir" when everyone else - #Europe #US #India, etc, seems to be going to shit - I honestly don't have the willpower to deal with this anymore. The final straw may have been when he glowed about an leftist author who has been pushing #Uyghur #genocide denial messaging.
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This book: Tahir Izgil’s “Waiting to be Arrested at Night’ really moved me
Also, a special fuck you to western leftists who insist none of this is happening and that China is amazing