Uyghurs Urge Boycott: Stop Watching Beijing’s Genocide Games – OpEd

By

With the Beijing Olympics (Genocide Games) coming up next week, the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) is calling on the public to boycott watching the Beijing Olympics in protest against China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan (Xinjiang).

“Many groups including Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, and even American and European organizations have asked the IOC to cancel the Genocide Games. The IOC said no, so we asked governments to boycott the Olympics fully, and they also said no,” said Dr. Mamtimin Ala, the EU Representative for the ETGE. 

“We also pleaded with athletes not to go, and they ignored us. So we now plead with the public not to watch the games to make this the least-watched Olympics in history,” said Dr. Ala said.

The ETGE welcomes a new wide-ranging bill to confront China that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.

The America COMPETES Act of 2022 includes several provisions which seek to strengthen the U.S. Government’s response to China’s ongoing genocide of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in occupied East Turkistan (renamed Xinjiang).

“We hope that this bill will lead to stronger actions by the U.S. to help end China’s ongoing campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation in East Turkistan,” said Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.

Specific provisions on East Turkistan include the designation of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples who have fled or are fleeing China’s ongoing genocide in East Turkistan as prioritized refugees of special humanitarian concern. This designation would make them eligible for Priority Two (P-2) processing under the U.S. Government’s refugee resettlement system.

“We ask the U.S. Government also to expedite the asylum applications of Uyghurs and other East Turkistanis who are already in the U.S. and have been waiting for years, some even over a decade, to obtain work permits and green cards,” said President Ghulam Yaghma of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. 

Another provision called for the designation of a Special Envoy within the U.S. State Department to coordinate the diplomatic and political response to China’s ongoing genocide and “gross violations of universally recognized human rights” in East Turkistan.

The bill, however, incorrectly refers to East Turkistan as the “Xinjiang Province,” which China officially refers to as the “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”

The East Turkistan Government in Exile again calls on the U.S. Government and the U.S. Congress to respect the preference of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples by correctly referring to their homeland by its proper name East Turkistan.

The bill contains an amendment to the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116-145), which now calls for the imposition of sanctions concerning systematic rape, coercive abortion, forced sterilization, or involuntary contraceptive implantation in East Turkistan.

The ETGE again calls on the U.S. Government and other governments in the free world to support East Turkistan’s case against Chinese officials at the International Criminal Court.

The ETGE urges governments to address the root of China’s ongoing genocide in East Turkistan by recognizing East Turkistan as an Occupied Country like Tibet.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile

East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) represents East Turkistan and its people. The ETGE aims to end Chinese occupation and restore East Turkistan’s independence.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *