ETGE Calls for Global Probe into Uyghur Organizations After Swedish Arrest of WUC Spokesperson
PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE)
East-Turkistan.Net
contact@East-Turkistan.Net
10 April 2025
WASHINGTON, DC –The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) is demanding an immediate international investigation into Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infiltration of Uyghur diaspora organizations following the arrest of Dilshat Reshit, spokesperson and founding member of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), on charges of espionage for China.
Swedish court documents confirmed Reshit’s arrest on suspicion of spying on Uyghur communities on behalf of Chinese intelligence—an alarming development that vindicates long-standing warnings by East Turkistani leaders about Chinese efforts to co-opt and dismantle Uyghur advocacy from within.
“This is not just espionage—it’s political warfare,” said Salih Hudayar, ETGE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security. “For over two decades, a man now accused of working for Chinese intelligence stood at the helm of an organization claiming to represent our people. This is not a failure of vetting—it’s the result of a deliberate, systematic campaign by Beijing to fracture, manipulate, and control our movement.”
The ETGE asserts that this arrest is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader CCP strategy of transnational repression, operationalized through the Ministry of State Security (MSS) and the United Front Work Department (UFWD). These arms of the Chinese state have long targeted East Turkistani / Uyghur diaspora communities with tactics including surveillance, disinformation, and the infiltration of civil society groups.
The ETGE emphasizes that Chinese infiltration has deeply compromised global Uyghur advocacy, redirecting the narrative away from East Turkistan’s legitimate pursuit of national independence toward safer, CCP-approved demands for human rights and cultural autonomy.
The strategy is rooted in CCP Politburo Document No. 7 (1996), which explicitly instructed Chinese authorities to “win over most, divide them, alienate a small number, and fight against them” and use all within exile communities. The directive further emphasizes the use of “home bases in regions with high overseas Chinese populations” and the cultivation of “broad and deep friendships” to suppress “separatist” activities to the “utmost degree. That same year, top CCP official Abdulahat Abdurishit declared: “All methods are acceptable to fight separatism—penetration, propaganda, killing.”
ETGE leadership believes this doctrine continues today under a cloak of diplomacy and co-option, enabled by the silence or complicity of organizations that have rejected the cause of East Turkistan independence in favor of Beijing-friendly narratives.
“The international community must ask itself: How many more are compromised? How deep does this go?” said Dr. Mamtimin Ala, President of the East Turkistan Government in Exile. “We are calling on every democratic government, intelligence agency, and human rights institution to launch a full-scale investigation into all Uyghur organizations and leadership structures to identify and root out Chinese influence.”
The ETGE reiterated its readiness to cooperate with democratic governments in efforts to expose and dismantle Chinese influence operations targeting East Turkistani diaspora communities.
This moment, the ETGE warns, is a tipping point. The arrest of a high-profile leader of a Uyghur human rights organization on charges of spying for the very regime committing genocide against Uyghurs must not be treated as a scandal—it must be seen as a security threat and strategic wake-up call.
“Our people are not just being oppressed in our homeland—they’re being silenced abroad by proxies and infiltrators,” said Hudayar. “This must end now.”