East Turkistanis Call On US To Act Against China’s Espionage Campaign Targeting Uyghurs – OpEd
By The East Turkistan Government in Exile
The US Department of Justice announced the arrest of two Chinese agents, on Monday, for operating a ‘police station’ in New York City that was used to spy on dissidents. In addition, the US Department of Justice charged 40 officers of China’s Public Security Bureau, the country’s national police agency, with transnational repression schemes targeting US citizens.
“We welcome the latest efforts by the United States Justice Department to counter Chinese espionage and transnational repression in the United States,” said East Turkistan Government in Exile President Ghulam Yaghma. “We also urge the United States government to address Chinese espionage and transnational repression of Uyghurs and other East Turkistanis.”
According to the Financial Times, the Chinese government is pressuring Uyghurs around the world to spy on each other and report back to Beijing as part of a campaign to co-opt Uyghur exiles to spy on Uyghur activists and organizations.
The Chinese government has long targeted Uyghur political activistsin an effort to prevent them from “internationalizing the East Turkistan problem.” Prior to launching its genocide campaign in East Turkistan, the Chinese government issued a 10-point secret directive known as “CCP Central Committee Document No. 7” in March 1996 in response to rising pro-independence activism among Uyghurs.
Point 8 of “Central Committee Document No. 7 (1996)” specifically called for “dividing the outside separatist forces; winning over the majority of them; and alienating and fighting against the remaining small number.” It also advocated for the establishment of “home bases in regions or cities with high Chinese and overseas Chinese populations,” as well as “making broad and deep friends and limiting separatist activities to the greatest extent possible.”
In 2018, a Uyghur woman with ties to Chinese state and CCP entities abused and attempted to weaponize the US justice system as part of China’s efforts to silence East Turkistan Government in Exile Prime Minister Salih Hudayar, who had been the leading voice speaking out against China’s ongoing genocide and advocating for East Turkistan’s independence.
“China is using Uyghur agents and assets all over the world, including in the United States, to influence, co-opt, and control diaspora communities and organizations in order to prevent East Turkistan independence and buy time for China to finish its campaign of colonization and genocide in East Turkistan,” Prime Minister Salih Hudayar said. “We once again urge the United States Government and all Western nations to act against China’s spies in our global diaspora targeting pro-independence East Turkistanis like myself all over the world.”
The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile (ETGE), the Government in Exile of the Republic of East Turkistan, is the democratically elected official body representing East Turkistan and its people.
