East Turkistan Govt in Exile urges international action over Beijing's security policies in Xinjiang

Washington DC [US], February 27 (ANI): The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) has called on the international community, including relevant United Nations bodies, to take coordinated and principled action in response to what it described as the continued institutionalisation of a coercive security and control system in East Turkistan, also known as Xinjiang, which it refers to as an occupied territory under Chinese rule.
In a statement posted on X, the ETGE said the latest developments come as Beijing's "People's War on Terror" and "Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism", launched in May 2014, approach their twelfth year in 2026. The group alleged that these campaigns function as official justifications for policies it characterises as genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Turkic communities.
The ETGE referred to a "Political-Legal Work" conference reportedly convened on 9 February in Urumchi under the administration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
According to published accounts cited by the group, senior officials of China's political and security apparatus attended the meeting.
Chen Xiaojiang, identified as the top Party official in the region, delivered remarks, while Erkin Tuniyaz, described as the appointed administrator, presided over the session.
The conference reportedly included officials from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), the Xinjiang Military Region, the Armed Police Command and other security and intelligence bodies. Wang Gang, identified as the Party's security chief in the region, was said to have issued specific enforcement directives.
According to the ETGE, the directives emphasised "preventing risks, ensuring security and safeguarding stability," and called for the continued normalisation of counterterrorism and stability maintenance measures.
The statement said the policies included maintaining a "high-pressure" posture against what authorities refer to as the "three forces" and accelerating an "integrated prevention-and-control" system. It also cited measures to strengthen border controls, intensify de-extremification efforts and expand anti-separatism and foreign-related security operations.
The ETGE argued that these measures reflect the consolidation of a system of mass surveillance and grassroots control, referencing the Fengqiao model of social governance. It maintained that such directives reinforce policies that have drawn international criticism in recent years.
The statement noted that the United States and several Western parliaments have determined that China's actions in the region amount to genocide and crimes against humanity.
It also referenced an assessment by the UN Human Rights Office that serious human rights violations had occurred, with some potentially constituting crimes against humanity. Additionally, it cited a joint declaration by 51 UN member states condemning abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic communities.
Salih Hudayar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Security of the ETGE, said the directives outline what he described as a colonial control system aimed at ensuring the permanence of Beijing's rule in the region.
He alleged that the normalisation of counterterrorism and de-extremification provides an administrative structure for mass surveillance, detention, forced labour and coercive population control policies.
The ETGE urged the international community to impose targeted sanctions on officials within what it called the colonial chain of command, counter what it described as China's transnational repression, and strengthen accountability mechanisms through national and international legal channels.
The group further stated that the issue should be addressed as a question of decolonisation rather than an internal matter of China. Mamtimin Ala, identified as President of the ETGE, called on governments to support what he described as the right of the people of East Turkistan to self-determination and national independence. (ANI)