PRESS RELEASE – For Immediate Release
East Turkistan Government in Exile
+1 (202) 599-2244, Ext: 1
contact@east-turkistan.net
www.east-turkistan.net
WASHINGTON: As the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan prepare to meet top Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska, on Thursday, Uyghurs and other East Turkistanis worldwide are urging the U.S. to act swiftly to end China’s genocide.
For decades, since China occupied East Turkistan in late 1949, the Chinese government has executed a brutal persecution campaign against the Uyghur and other Turkic populations in East Turkistan. In recent years, China’s colonization and occupation in East Turkistan have exacerbated into what is without doubt genocide as defined under international law.
Since January 2021, the United States Government and the Parliaments of Canada and the Netherlands have officially designated China’s atrocities against Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan as genocide.
Over 3 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples are currently held in concentration camps throughout Occupied East Turkistan. They face rape, sexual and physical violence, torture, organ harvesting, sterilization, and summary execution.
The Washington Post’s Editorial Board published an opinion piece stating U.S. sanctions for the Uyghur Genocide are hurting China, but they aren’t enough.
“The U.S. can take meaningful action to end the genocide of Uyghurs by bringing East Turkistan to the agenda of the U.N. Security Council, prosecuting China’s diplomats under U.S. Code Section 1091, increasing tariffs, applying more sanctions, boycotting the Beijing 2022 Olympics, bringing East Turkistan to the agenda of U.N. Security Council and recognizing East Turkistan as a Captive Nation,” stated Prime Minister Salih Hudayar of the East Turkistan Government in Exile.
The ETGE has been calling on the United States and other governments to address China’s prolonged campaign of colonization and genocide in East Turkistan by recognizing the genocide, acknowledging East Turkistan as an Occupied Country, and taking decisive actions to end it.
The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) and the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement (ETNAM) have been advocating for governments worldwide to act to end China’s genocide of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples for many years. In July 2020, the ETGE and ETNAM filed a joint complaint urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute Chinese officials for genocide.
“We also hope the U.S. and other countries will support our case against China at the International Criminal Court so that we can obtain justice through international law,” Prime Minister Hudayar stated. He further added, “the U.S. needs to expedite asylum applications for Uyghurs and designate Uyghurs as a priority group for resettlement in the United States.”
The ETGE is also urging the United States and other countries to ban all goods from East Turkistan, what China calls “Xinjiang,” to have an economic impact. “China is using the forced and slave labor of Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan to make products that are then exported all across the world; the international community must oppose this,” said the ETGE’s President Ghulam Yaghma.
While U.S. officials meet with senior Chinese officials in Alaska, the East Turkistan National Awakening Movement and the East Turkistan Government in Exile will hold a demonstration on Thursday, March 18, 2021 in front of the U.S. State Department from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
WHAT: Protest to End China’s Genocide in East Turkistan
WHEN: Thursday, March 18, 11 AM – 1 PM Eastern Time
WHERE: Harry S. Truman Building, U.S. State Department, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC
And Live Streaming at https://www.facebook.com/ETAwakening
WHO: East Turkistan National Awakening Movement and East Turkistan Government in Exile
