The East Turkistan Government‑in‑Exile unequivocally condemns the People’s Republic of China’s attempt to invoke the International Day to Combat Islamophobia in order to whitewash its genocide, colonial occupation, and war on Islam in East Turkistan (which it falsely labels “Xinjiang”).

Beijing’s rhetoric about “opposing all forms of Islamophobia” comes only days after it adopted a so‑called “Ethnic Unity Law” – a legal instrument of Chinese imperialism and colonial domination that, in practice, criminalizes religious and cultural diversity. This law seeks to forcibly assimilate Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other non‑Chinese peoples by erasing their distinct identities and imposing Han Chinese language, culture, ideology, and identity, in clear violation of international norms prohibiting racial discrimination. In substance, this “Ethnic Unity Law” codifies and advances policies that form part of the ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim peoples and provides further evidence of genocidal intent.

For decades, the atheist Chinese state has subjected Islam in East Turkistan to comprehensive, coercive control. Thousands of mosques and sacred sites have been demolished, millions of Qurans and Islamic texts destroyed, and even basic Islamic practices – including daily prayer, fasting, Islamic dress, Islamic names, and greetings such as “assalaam alaykum” or openly invoking the name of Allah – have been criminalized as “extremism” or “terrorism.” Islam been effectively banned and criminalized in East Turkistan, and millions of Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic Muslims have been arbitrarily detained, imprisoned, or enslaved through forced labor.

Existing “religious institutions” in East Turkistan are largely staged and controlled showcases, maintained to deceive the world. They are fully subordinated to the Chinese Communist Party’s policy of “Sinicization,” placing faith and worship under an avowedly atheist, authoritarian state and turning the appearance of religion into a propaganda tool while systematically extinguishing genuine freedom of religion or belief.

Under the guise of so-called “counter‑terrorism” and “de‑extremification,” Turkic Muslims are routinely profiled and labeled as “extremists” or “terrorists” simply because of their Turkic Islamic identity. Chinese officials have repeatedly described Islamic belief as an “ideological virus” or “illness” to be “eradicated,” pathologizing Islam itself to justify mass internment and genocide. In both scale and intensity, China today stands as the world’s leading state perpetrator of Islamophobia against Muslims.

For the perpetrator of such policies to speak of “combatting Islamophobia” is deeply hypocritical and a calculated attempt to mislead Muslim‑majority states, Muslim peoples and organizations, and the wider international community, and to deflect scrutiny from its ongoing campaign of genocide, crimes against humanity, and colonial domination.

The international community, in particular Muslim‑majority states, organizations, and Muslim peoples, must reject China’s deceptive narrative and stand with the persecuted Muslims of Occupied East Turkistan, unequivocally condemn China’s genocide and state‑directed Islamophobia, and support decolonization, national self‑determination, and the restoration of East Turkistan’s national independence and sovereignty.

— Adil Ablimit, Minister of Culture, Education, and Religious Affairs