NEWS

Zara Week of Action
This week, a few members of the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour launched a week of action to call out apparel giant Zara for benefiting from Uyghur forced labour. The campaign proposed various online actions for every day of the week, from twitter storms to letters addressed to the company, the actions reached a big audience. To learn more about the specific actions, click here.

U.S. Custom and Border Protection Issues Detention Order on Cotton Products from East Turkistan
On December 2, the U.S. Custom and Border Protection issued a new Withhold Release Order (WRO) that will detain all cotton and cotton products produced by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XCC- Bingtuan), based on allegations of Uyghur forced labour. This decision follows the 1307 petition with the CBP that organisations from the Coalition to End Uyghur Forced Labour had filed, back in August.

Trio of the Hong Kong Pro-Democratic Movement Sentenced
This week, the faces of the Hong Kong Pro-Democratic Movement, Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, were sentenced to prison for organizing a non-authorized protest in Hong Kong last year. The imprisonment of the three activists in Hong Kong is yet another example of CCP’s attempt to stamp out any form of dissident. Wong was sentenced to 13.5 months in jail, Chow to 10 months and Lam to 7 months. 

In solidarity, the WUC stated: ‘’As Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, the faces of the Pro-Democracy Movement in Hong Kong receive their sentences, the WUC stands in solidarity with them. WUC supports these young brave democracy activists who are risking their lives in the name of Freedom.’’

Statues of Uyghur Intellectuals Removed
This week, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that Chinese authorities removed the statues of the famous Uyghur intellectuals Mahmud Kashgary – one of the Turkic world most important scholars -, Ghazibay – pioneer of Uyghur medicinal science- and Hussayn Kahn Akbar Tejelli – a famous Uyghur poet and medical scholar-. RFA based its findings on satellite imagery and local testimonies. The Chinese government continues its brutal campaign to eliminate the rich and ancient Uyghur culture. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) earlier reported that the Chinese government has destroyed 35 percent of East Turkistan mosques since 2016. Furthermore, shrines, cemeteries and other cultural sites have been destroyed or demolished on a large scale. 

Businesses Lobby against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
On November 29th, the New York Times reported that major companies and business groups like Apple, Coca-Cola and Nike are actively lobbying in the US Congress to weaken the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act. It is expected that it will pass the Senate and could be signed by law by the President. Multinational companies, whose supply chains are linked to Uyghur forced labour, are now lobbying to water down the bills’ provisions. 

China Research Group Published a New Report
On 1 December, the China Research Group launched its new report on “Defending Democracy in a New World” with a panel chaired by the MP Neil O’Brien. The panelists, which included WUC UK Director Rahima Mahmud, former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, MP and Chair of the China Research Group Tom Tugendhat, and Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law, discussed a policy toolkit for tackling human rights abuses and dealing with a more assertive CCP.

Participate

“The Gaze that Subverts”: a virtual exhibition
Visit the  great exhibition “‘The Gaze that Subverts”: a virtual exhibition to celebrate women defenders”set up by ISHR. This particular painting shows Senuber Tursun, a famous Uyghur singer and dutar player, that had previously disappeared, among millions of others.