Cross-posted from https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/43050512 > Aziz Isa Elkun couldn’t bear to watch footage of Chinese leader Xi Jinping celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region this week. > > Livestreams from Chinese state media showed Xi receiving a red-carpet welcome as locals sang and danced in traditional Uyghur dress. > > Elkun fled Xinjiang nearly three decades ago after being persecuted by the Chinese government. > > “I couldn’t dare to watch. It was just a second or two… and I stopped,” said 56-year-old Uyghur poet, now based in London. > > […] > > Under Xi’s rule over the past decade, mass detention and heavy surveillance of ethnic Uyghur groups have intensified in Xinjiang. > > When faced with criticism from abroad, Beijing framed the clampdown in the region as counterterrorism. > > During his three-day visit to Xinjiang this week, Xi called for “every possible effort to uphold social stability.” > > The Chinese president also met with representatives of all the ethnic groups, expressing hopes “that everyone would join forces and move forward together to build a beautiful Xinjiang,” according to report by the Xinhua news agency. > > At the same time, he also hailed the Communist Party’s ethnic autonomy system as “entirely correct” and “effective.” > > […] > > Byler told DW that the primary goal for Chinese authorities is to “make Xinjiang a space that’s fully integrated with the rest of the country… a space that’s sort of open for business.” > > “To get there,” he added, “they want to turn Uyghurs into a productive workforce.” > > […] > > Recent reports also accuse Beijing of running forced labor programs that move hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs from detention centers into textile, manufacturing, and agricultural work.