Media coverage of the plight of Muslims in Xinjiang - indigenous ethnic groups versus ethnic minority
Abstract
The goal of this presentation is to look into the way international media covers the ongoing situation faced by ethnic Uyghurs and Kazakhs in China's northwestern province of Xinjiang, namely Beijing's move to impose unprecedent pressure on the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region's indigenous mostly Muslim, Turkic-speaking ethnic groups. In recent years, media reports in the West and official statements by the United Nations and western governments about Beijing's policies in the region call the indigenous ethnic groups as "Muslim minorities," or "ethnic minorities," which very often causes confusion among the audience.
In the wake of international concerns in 2018 regarding the situation faced by Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic groups in Xinjiang, many of whom, according to the United Nations, the United States Department of State and numerous human rights watchdogs, have been incarcerated in so-called "political re-education camps," initial reports in Europe and in the West in general, very often described the ethnic groups in question as "Muslim minorities," without proper explanations of the historic background, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic peculiarities of the region. Almost none of the statements or reports described the ethnic groups in question as "indigenous population" of Xinjiang.
Meanwhile, when media reports focus, for instance, on Beijing's policies in China's other region -- Tibet, described by human rights groups and many foreign governments as oppressive, the region's native population with its own culture, language, religion, and history is never described as "Tibetan minority." The world's perception of Tibet is different as it is known as a separate nation that was annexed by Communist China in 1950. Meanwhile, Turkic-speaking groups in Xinjiang, which means "New Frontier" or "New Territory" in Mandarin Chinese, have their own culture, linguistic and religious heritage and history.
Additionally, there were two short-lived East Turkistan Republics on Xinjiang's territory in the 1930 and 1940s.