Xinjiang: German scientists say China’s birth policy could reduce Uyghur births by millions – BBC News
image source,Getty Images
This is the first report on how Chinese government policy in Xinjiang affects local minorities and it has passed peer review.
A German researcher found that the birth policy implemented by the Chinese government in Xinjiang will reduce the growth rate of local Uyghurs and other minorities in the next 20 years by about 2.6 million to 4.5 million, which is about three-thirds of the total ethnicity. population. One.
This report was written by German researcher Adrian Zenz. The report stated that the outside world originally predicted that the number of minorities in Xinjiang would rise to about 13.1 million by 2040. However, the Chinese government implemented a policy of restricting births in the local area, resulting in an increase in the population of local minorities, which will only reach about 8.6 million to 10.5 million people in 2040.
Some Western countries accuse China of committing a “genocide” in Xinjiang, and some of the measures include the use of compulsory contraceptives. Beijing authorities have denied the related allegations, instead suggesting that the decline in the population of local minorities is due to other reasons.
This is the first report on how Chinese government policy in Xinjiang affects local minorities and it has passed peer review.
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Zheng Guoen stated in the research report that in 2019 Xinjiang authorities plan to force at least 80% of pregnant women living in southern Xinjiang to undergo “contraceptive surgery”, including implanting an intrauterine device (IUD) and requiring them to undergo sterilization. . surgery.
Reuters quoted Zeng Jun as saying that the report revealed “the long-term goal behind the Chinese government’s plan to target the Uyghur population.”
Some experts believe that nearly one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities who mostly believe in Islam have been detained in centralized administration facilities in western China. The Chinese government faces accusations of trying to reduce and assimilate the local Muslim minorities.
However, the Chinese authorities refer to the facilities related to re-education camps, which are necessary measures to curb terrorism.
The report also noted that Chinese officials continue to relocate Han to some areas in Xinjiang where ethnic minorities originally lived.
According to Zheng Guoen’s research report, the Chinese government’s plan could increase the Han population in southern Xinjiang. This area is currently the main settlement area of the Uyghurs. After the implementation of the plan, the proportion of the Han population in the local population will increase from the current 8.4% to 25%.
Official figures from the Chinese government show that between 2017 and 2019, the birth rate in ethnic minority areas in Xinjiang decreased by 48.7%.
The Beijing government announced last week that it will further improve its family planning policy so that couples can have up to three children. However, some documents leaked in the past show that the Beijing government still implements a very strict birth control policy in Xinjiang, and that some women who bypass births will be punished.
image source,Environmental Protection Agency
Some documents leaked in the past show that the Beijing government still implements a very strict birth control policy in Xinjiang, and that some women who bypass births will be punished.
Zheng Guoen issued a similar report in January last year, citing local data, political documents and the parties’ claims that Xinjiang authorities asked some pregnant Uyghur women to have an abortion or they would be detained. The authorities also forced some women to do so. Have birth control implants or undergo sterilization surgery.
The Chinese authorities have long denied these allegations and asserted that the decline in the birth rate in Xinjiang is due to the national implementation of the birth policy, and local families gradually became wealthy, so they began to implement family planning on their own. to reduce births.
Reuters quoted the Chinese Foreign Ministry in response to Zheng Guen’s research as saying that “the so-called genocide is complete nonsense.”
China’s Foreign Ministry stated, “This is hidden propaganda by the United States and Western anti-China powers and a manifestation of ‘Sinophobia’.”
Zheng Guin is a researcher at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, based in Washington, DC, USA. This foundation describes itself as a full-time organization that “seeks freedom for those still living under an authoritarian regime”.
Reuters has hired some experts who study population changes, birth control policies and international human rights law to review the data in Zheng Guoen’s report, and these experts agree that the analysis and conclusions in the report are reasonable.
But some experts have also warned that population projections for the next few decades may be influenced by “unforeseen factors”.
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