Urumqi

Graphic of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China’s tech weapons roll in to quell demonstrations, identify protesters

Free speech

The latest demonstrations across China ended when the central government unleashed a digital arsenal that was less deadly than the tanks used to quell the 1989 protests, but just as effective. China managed to use the internet to defuse national outrage over President Xi Jinping’s strict COVID-19 policies without firing a single shot.

building with barbed wire

Disappeared Uyghur author’s novel translated into English for the first time

Books
Mehray Mezensof with her husband Mirzat Taher

This Uyghur woman was separated from her husband by Chinese authorities. She hasn’t given up hope.

Human rights

A Uighur poem of ‘unimaginable suffering’ travels from Chinese internment camp to New Jersey

Human rights
A news report published by a Chinese government news website on a beer festival held in a village in Xinjiang. It has been taken down for unknown reason.

No fair, China: Trying to tempt Muslims from fasting during Ramadan — with beer

Belief
Riot police stand guard a checkpoint near the courthouse where ethnic Uighur academic Ilham Tohti's trial took place in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in mid-September.

China’s harsh punishment for a moderate Uighur could make things worse in Xinjiang

Justice

Even cynics were surprised when a court in China handed moderate Uighur independence advocate Ilham Tohti a life sentence and severe economic penalties on Tuesday. Now observers think the harsh ruling may further stoke tensions and violence in China’s Xinjiang province.

People look on at a street cordoned off by police after Thursday's blast in a market in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, in western China.

Why is Xinjiang such a problem for China?

Global Politics

Attackers in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, the capital of the restive province of Xinjiang, killed 31 people and injured more than 90 at an outdoor market. It was just the latest in a series of terror attacks Chinese officials are blaming on separatists from Xinjiang.Attackers in the western Chinese city of Urumqi, the capital of the restive province of Xinjiang, killed 31 people and injured more than 90 at an outdoor market. It was just the latest in a series of terror attacks Chinese officials are blaming on separatists from Xinjiang.

Payzulla Polat

Here’s how a Uighur musician was inspired to bring his culture and food to the streets of Boston

Payzulla Polat was a drummer in a famous band in the Uighur city of Urumqi in China. He decided to come to the US to study music and realized he couldn’t find good Uighur food. So he created his own Uighur food truck called “Uyghur Kitchen.”

Payzulla Polat

Here’s how a Uighur musician was inspired to bring his culture and food to the streets of Boston

Payzulla Polat was a drummer in a famous band in the Uighur city of Urumqi in China. He decided to come to the US to study music and realized he couldn’t find good Uighur food. So he created his own Uighur food truck called “Uyghur Kitchen.”

The World

Unrest in China Disrupts a Summit in Italy

Conflict & Justice

As Han and Uighur Chinese battled each other in a flare up of ancient ethnic tensions, the Chinese President Hu Jintao had to leave the G8 meeting in Italy to attend to the situation.