Uighurs Under Police-State Style Lockdown

As normalcy returns to much of China, a “wartime mode” lockdown continues across the Xinjiang region—with some people even locked into their homes with metal bars.

“The government has used an ax where a scalpel was needed,” said a 21-year-old resident of Urumqi, where the vast majority of cases have occurred.

Officials claim that’s necessary to contain COVID-19, although the last case surfaced August 17. But activists say it’s no coincidence that ~11 million Uighurs, a minority long subjected to heavy restrictions and surveillance, live in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang’s regional government has softened its stance somewhat after protests. 

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