21 July 2026
Press Release – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
WASHINGTON — As the United States observes Captive Nations Week (July 19–25, 2026), the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) today reaffirmed East Turkistan’s status as a captive nation under Public Law 86-90 and renewed its call for the international community to recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country and support the restoration of its independence.
Enacted in 1959, the Captive Nations Resolution (Public Law 86-90) explicitly named Turkistan among the nations subjugated by Communist imperialism, calling for U.S. support to keep alive their desire for liberty and national independence. On Oct. 12, 1949, just 11 days after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Chinese communist forces invaded East Turkistan, overthrowing the independent East Turkistan Republic on Dec. 22, 1949, and launching a campaign of colonization and occupation that continues to this day.
Seventy-six years later, China continues to hold East Turkistan captive and, since 2014, has subjected Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples to an ongoing campaign of genocide and crimes against humanity, mass internment, mass enslavement through forced labor, and systematic erasure. This campaign has been further codified through Beijing’s so-called “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress,” adopted on July 1, 2026, which enshrines forced assimilation, cultural erasure, and transnational repression into statute. The ETGE emphasized that the human rights framework alone has proven insufficient, addressing the symptoms rather than the root cause: China’s colonial occupation.
“Turkistan, including East Turkistan, was explicitly named in the 1959 Captive Nations Resolution, not as part of China, but as a nation subjugated by Communist imperialism,” said Dr. Mamtimin Ala, President of the ETGE. “We ask America to honor that truth, and to stand with our people’s just struggle to restore our freedom and independence.”
The ETGE emphasized that as a designated captive nation, East Turkistan has a clear legal foundation for U.S. support toward the recovery of its independence, and urged the U.S. Congress to recognize East Turkistan as an occupied country, modeled on the policy precedent established for Tibet, and to appoint a Special Coordinator for East Turkistani Issues at the U.S. Department of State.
“The restoration of liberty and independence for East Turkistan is not a dream. It is a duty enshrined in the Captive Nations Resolution,” said Salih Hudayar, ETGE Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security and President of the East Turkistan National Movement. “Governments must recognize East Turkistan as an occupied nation and support our people’s inalienable right to decolonization and national independence.”
The ETGE called on the United States, Congress, and the international community to introduce resolutions reaffirming East Turkistan’s captive-nation status, condemn 76 years of Chinese occupation, impose targeted sanctions on officials responsible for the ongoing genocide, counter Chinese transnational repression and influence operations, and support East Turkistan’s decolonization and the full restoration of its national independence and sovereignty.