May 27, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC
The Statement below is attributed to the East Turkistan Government in Exile’s Prime Minister
On behalf of the people of East Turkistan, we want to thank the US Congress for passing the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act earlier today with an overwhelming majority of 413 vs 1.
We urge President Trump to sign it into law as soon as possible and hope that this bill will lead to more stronger actions and bills to help bring an end to China’s brutal occupation and oppression in East Turkistan.
Recently, Congressman Scott Perry introduced new legislations that would authorize the US President to recognize Hong Kong and Tibet as separate, independent countries. We commend Congressman Perry and fully support his bills.
We would like the US Congress and the US President to recognize East Turkistan as a separate independent country as well.
History bears witness to the fact that there is no basis for the Chinese regime’s claim of East Turkistan being “a part of China.” It was the Manchus, who had invaded and occupied China in 1644, that invaded and occupied East Turkistan in 1884 and renamed it to “Xinjiang” meaning the “New Territory.”
East Turkistan and its people have a long history of independence prior to 1884. Our people declared independence as the East Turkistan Republic for the first time on November 12, 1933, but our nascent Republic was brutally crushed on April 16, 1934 following Soviet and Chinese invasions.
The people of East Turkistan declared independence once more on November 12, 1944 and maintained their independence as the Turkistan Republic until the then newly established “People’s Republic of China” invaded and occupied our Homeland with the tacit support of the Soviet Union.
Since China invaded and occupied East Turkistan 70 years ago in December 1949, the Chinese Communist regime has engaged a brutal campaign of colonization, genocide, and occupation against our people and Homeland.
When comparing two petitions submitted to the White House in 2018, you can see that while less than 10% of Uyghurs advocate for only human rights, while over 90% of East Turkistanis view that the restoration of East Turkistan’s independence is necessary to ensure the human rights and freedoms of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples in East Turkistan.
The people of East Turkistan have never given up their struggle to regain their independence. Millions of East Turkistani people sacrificed their lives in the path of independence.
Today, over 3 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Turkic peoples are in concentration camps and with millions more in prisons and labor camps is a part of China’s attempts to prevent East Turkistan’s independence.
Restoring East Turkistan’s independence is the only way to truly ensure our peoples human rights, freedoms, and their existence.
Thus, we urge the US government and all governments across the world to acknowledge and respect our people’s democratic choice for independence by recognizing East Turkistan as a separate and independent nation under Chinese occupation.
