Chair: Luke Donovan Co-Chair: Dylan Duncan
BC High MUN 29
Message from the Chair
Dear Delegates,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the committee on Uyghur Muslims in China for BCHigh
MUN 29. I am very excited to dive into this complex topic and am interested to see how you approach it.
Since this topic is present-day, there is new information coming out daily about the genocide in China.
To avoid confusion, everything discussed in committee should have happened as of March 1. Also, keep in mind that this background guide was written in January, so there may be events missing because they have not happened at the time of writing.
I started Model UN during my sophomore year of high school. It has been a really great experience for me because it forces me to get out of my comfort zone. One of my favorite Model UN moments was this past December 2020 at a conference at St. John’s Prep. I was Speaker Robert DeLeo in a Massachusetts House of Representatives committee, and I introduced myself as the Speaker. The chair called me “Representative” DeLeo, which I technically was, but I was really the Speaker. So, I mentioned that he and all other delegates should refer to me as Speaker DeLeo, not Representative
DeLeo. Looking back on this it might have been a little obnoxious, but I was just playing the part.
Anyway, I hope that we can have a substantive debate, and create a worldwide solution to these human rights atrocities in China.
This is my second time chairing a committee. Last year I chaired the Security Council on Hong
Kong and my sophomore year I co-chaired the Iran-Iraq joint crisis. Some of my other high school activities include rowing and writing for our newspaper, “The Eagle.” Lastly, if you have any questions, feel free to email me ([email protected]). See you all in March! Very truly yours,
Luke Donovan ‘21
1
BC High MUN 29
Message from the Co-Chair
Dear Delegates,
I would also like to welcome BCHigh MUN 29. I am excited to explore the topic of Ugyhur
Muslims and be a co-chair, as this is my first time being a chair at a BC High Conference. I am a junior at
BC High, and I started Model UN my sophomore year. I enjoy Model UN because of the people I meet and the overall experiences of my past conferences. My favorite Model UN experience was last year at a conference in Seekonk. I was a farmer from Vietnam, who I named Dkeef, and about halfway through the conference, the crisis staff killed Dkeef, as a result everyone started saying “RIP Dkeef.” I found it very funny how my once irrelevant farmer became such a prominent figure in the conference, and the subject of our working paper. This is my first time as a chair, last year I was part of the Crisis Staff at our last conference. I am also a part of the basketball and football teams at BC High. If you have any questions, you can email me at ([email protected]). I look forward to seeing you all in March.
Sincerely,
Dylan Duncan ‘22
2
BC High MUN 29
Introduction
China has detained millions of Uyghur Muslims in re-education camps, claiming that
they pose a threat to national security. Eleven million Uyghurs live in Xinjiang, formerly known
as East Turkestan, which was annexed by China in 1949. Uyghurs-- in the minority since
Chinese annexation-- have been subject to harsh backlash from China for decades over political
dissent, are the only ethnic group publicly executed for crimes, and are coerced into unpaid
labor.
The Chinese government has also destroyed their mosques and forbidden the Uyghur language in universities. Since 2017, 800,000 to 2 million Uyghurs have been detained in camps, charged with “crimes” that have no legal standings. This crackdown began in 2014, but has dramatically expanded since then, with 39 camps tripling in size between 2017 and 2018.
Detainees who have fled these camps describe horror stories: sexual violence against women, constant surveillance, pledged renunciation of Islam. Uyghur families have also been ripped apart: parents are brought to the re-education camps and their children to state-run orphanages. Delegates must determine if and how China is held accountable-- and how much power the UN has in ending this human rights atrocity.
As an aside, there are many ways to spell Uyghur, including Uighur, Uygur, and
Weiwu’er. For consistency, we will stick with Uyghur in this background guide.
3
BC High MUN 29
Background
History of the Uyghurs
The Uyghurs are an indigenous group of Muslims who have inhabited East Turkestan, also known as Xinjiang, in Central Asia for thousands of years. They are not Chinese, but descendants of the Turks. As one of the few settled ethnic groups in Central Asia, the Uyghurs lived along the Silk Road, developing a culture with Western influences. In 934, Kashgar, the then-capital of the Uyghur empire, became a major learning center of Islam where arts, the sciences, music, literature, and Islamic institutions prospered. During this period of success, thousands of books were written and hundreds of Uyghur scholars became world-renowned.
Religion carries a significant influence in Uyghur culture. Their form of Islam combines Sunni
Islam, folk religious beliefs, Buddhism, Manacheaism, Shaminism, and Tengrism, which has created a truly unique religion.
In 1876, the Manchu Empire (Qing Dynasty of China) invaded the Islamic Uyghur
Kingdom of East Turkestan. Eight years of war later, the Manchu Empire formally annexed East
Turkestan and renamed the region Xinjiang, or “New Territory,” on November 18, 1884. In
1911, when Chinese Nationalists overthrew the Manchu Empire, Xinjiang fell under Nationalist rule. During this period of Chinese takeover, Uyghur culture declined significantly. The Uyghurs tried twice to gain independence from the Chinese Nationalists, succeeding both times (1933 and
1944). However, since 1949, Xinjiang has been under continuous Chinese control.
Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang
As mentioned previously, Xinjiang has endured various degrees of autonomy. When the
Qing Dynasty collapsed in 1911, the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan claimed independence,
4
BC High MUN 29 before being reclaimed by China a year later. Thirty years later, in 1944, Xinjiang gained independence again, this time as the Second East Turkestan Republic under the protection of the
Soviet Union. By 1949, China re-annexed Xinjiang, this time under the reign of the Chinese
Communist Party. In 1955, Xinjiang became an autonomous region still under Chinese sovereignty. Here’s some basic information about the territory:
● Area: 1,600,000 sq km ● Capital: Ürümqi ● Population: 16.25 million (March 2001) ● Topography: mountains, basns, steppes, oases ● Climate: drought, very little rainfall
Ürümqi Riots
The Chinese government implemented laws encouraging more Han Chinese immigration to Xinjiang, the Han population in Xinjiang grew dramatically which increased tensions and worsened treatment of the Uyghur Muslims. Many blame the declining treatment of the Uyghur community to the Ürümqi Riots of 2009. After reports that Han girls had been raped, on June
25th, 2009, two Uyghur factory villagers were beaten to death. Following these events many students protested in front of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) office demanding an investigation. These once peaceful protests quickly became violent riots in which the Uyghurs began chanting “Kill the Hans,” and then the Han population retaliated by assaulting the Uyghur
Muslims. These riots lasted two days and resulted in the death of 194 people. To prevent violence like this from happening again, the CCP restricted internet access in the region for ten months, flexing its control over the region but doing little to ease tensions.
5
BC High MUN 29
Protesters clashing with police during the Urumqi riots. Source: Associated Press, Published in 2009 New York Times
Uyghur detainees in a camp in Lop Country, Xinjiang, in April 2017. Source: Wikimedia
6
BC High MUN 29
Present-Day Conflict
The Rise of Terrorism
As terrorism has grown throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the fear and stigmatization of Muslims based solely off of their religion has exponentially grown across the world, including in China. This irritation fear of Muslims is currently the case in Xinjiang in regards to the Uyghur Muslims living in the area.
In response to the stigmatization of the Uyghurs and more generally Muslim people as a whole, the Chinese government has exerted strict efforts in an attempt to control and regulate all activities of life for the Muslims. These severe restrictions range from limiting people’s abilities to practice and express their religious beliefs, to ultimately controlling them by holding them captive in camps and forcing Chinese culture upon the hostages.
Religious Limitations
Following multiple human rights violations and the Ürümqi riots, it became a commonly stigmatized idea that Muslim and Turkish peoples were being associated with slowing regional collobartion and harmony throughout the rest of China. Starting in 2017, the Chinese government passed legislation that redefined older laws on religious affairs and targeted ethnic minorities within the country. Later in the year the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
Regulation on De-Extremification entered China. This law limited freedom of religion and expression by outlawing public and private displays of religion or culture, that would be considered extremist under this law. Practices included face coverings, irregular beards, or names, abstaining from alcohol, or any books on Islam or Uyghurs. By passing this law the CCP has further shown that they are purposely facilitating the arrest of Muslim citizens that have
7
BC High MUN 29 violated these new laws and codes. In 2018 the key policies of this law were converted to a national level in China with new regulations on religious affairs. This law restricted certain activities like religious customs and practices as well as languages. This law also prohibits any citizen from advocating for religious extremism and outlaws practices of the religion which undercuts religious harmony. These new regulations are what legitimized the detainment and arrest of large numbers of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in XUAR by claiming the arrest as an excuse to
“reform” the extremist attitudes of the Uyghurs.
Daily Monitoring
The CCP has now drastically increased the range of their surveillance in the XUAR after the riots. With the object to control the Muslim population all information obtained by the government was collected on integrated joint operation platforms. This AI system would monitor checkpoints and collect data such as banking information, health status and DNA profiles. This surveillance is achieved through mandatory regulations passed by the government that require the Muslim population to self install spyware on their phones. If members of the community failed to comply with the new regulations they would be charged as if it were a criminal offense.
Additional information is obtained through GPS trackers, facial recognitions scanners, and blood samples which would be added to a DNA database. Routine security checks are carried out by the local police at checkpoints and have created opportunities to search phones for criminal content. Regular controls and measures to maintain security and unity include monitoring of social media messages such as WhatsApps which is seen as a criminal offense. Other monitored grounds for arrest can be offenses such as travel abroad, and communication with foreigners.
8
BC High MUN 29
Internment Camps
The Chinese government has been forcibly placing Uyghur Muslims in internment camps, often a result of crimes with minimal legal consequence. However, the Chinese government has forbidden Uyghur Muslims the opportunity for a fair trial with representation by lawyers. The motivation behind forcing Muslims into camps to re-educate and enforce Chinese society, stems from the systemic fear of terrorist acts caused by Muslim extremists. The Chinese camps strive to eliminate the Muslim culture from its detainees through: violent treatment of the
Uyghurs, the destruction of families and the greater unknown fear of the true extent of
“re-education” camps.
The exact numbers of Uyghur Muslims that have been taken into the internment camp is unknown. However, estimates range from over 800,000 people to two million people. The most important issues with the camps are that the Uyghur Muslims are interned without a trial against their will, and human rights violations are being committed by the Chinese government.
9
BC High MUN 29
Questions to Consider: 1. We have seen worldwide condemnation, but many Muslim nations have been silent. Are
human rights violations more important than your country’s economic ties with China?
2. What are some potential next steps? In what ways could the UN ease the situation?
3. The United States has been less forceful in its criticism of China’s human rights
violations. Can the UN make any significant changes without the U.S.’s support?
4. It is possible to end these human rights violations peacefully? At what point should the
UN step away if peace isn’t possible?
These questions come from Hamburg Model United Nations:
5. Does your government strongly condemn these actions, or should you approach the Chinese government to gain insight and cooperate on the matter?
6. Should the topic be handled publicly to draw attention to the situation or debated in private talks with the Chinese representative?
10
BC High MUN 29
Positions/Alliances/Blocs
● Argentina ● Australia ● Belarus ● Belgium ● Brazil ● Canada ● China ● Egypt ● Estonia ● Finland ● France ● Germany ● India ● Iran ● Italy ● Japan ● Mexico ● Netherlands ● New Zealand ● Russia ● Rwanda ● Saudi Arabia ● South Africa ● South Korea ● Spain ● Syria ● Ukraine ● United Kingdom ● United States of America ● Venezuela
11
BC High MUN 29
Sources Used
Geography of Xinjiang,
www.mtholyoke.edu/~jiltwu/World%20Politics/Geography.html. Accessed 19
January 2021.
Maizland, Lindsay. “China's Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang.” Council on Foreign Relations,
Council on Foreign Relations,
www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang. Accessed 16 November
2020.
Mathiesen, Leah, and Tobias Hinderks. United Nations Human Rights Council, 28 Nov. 2019,
hammun.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Finalised-UNHRC.pdf. Accessed 30 November
2020.
Wood, Bryan, and Brennan Butler. “What Is Happening with the Uighurs in China?” PBS,
Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/newshour/features/uighurs/. Accessed 16
November 2020.
“Who Are the Uyghurs of East Turkestan?” Who Are the Uyghurs of East Turkestan? |
International Uyghur Human Rights & Democracy Foundation, www.iuhrdf.org/uyghurs.
Accessed 16 November 2020.
12