Change in Leadership in Uyghur Region Will Offer More of the Same

December 28, 2021, 11:45 a.m. EST
For Immediate Release
Contact: Omer Kanat +1 (202) 790-1795, Peter Irwin +1 (646) 906-7722

The recent installation of a new Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Ma Xingrui, has led to speculation that the change may signal a new course in the Central Government’s policies. 

“Uyghurs are now suffering an ongoing genocide,” said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. “We fear this change in leadership will not bring any relief to the suffering of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic peoples in our homeland.”

Extensive top-secret Chinese government documents, leaked to the Uyghur Tribunal in early December, show conclusively that the policies in East Turkistan are directed from the top. 

The horrifying policies implemented during Chen Quanguo’s term of office were an extreme escalation of widespread and gross human rights violations routinely committed in previous years, with government claims that new leaders would “strike a stronger blow” than their predecessors.

Chen Quanguo, who held the position of regional Party Secretary since 2016, was instrumental in carrying out a campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs. Chen was sanctioned by the US government in July 2020 and by the European Union in March 2021 for his role in these abuses.