WUC weekly brief highlights US forced labour ban expansion, China's propaganda in MENA, persecution of Uyghur scholars

Washington DC [US], August 24 (ANI): The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has published its latest weekly update, highlighting significant developments concerning the challenges faced by Uyghur Muslims and China's ongoing repression efforts.
A key development in the report involves the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has broadened the enforcement of the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA).
The department has incorporated steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda, and red dates into its list of high-priority imports that will undergo stringent scrutiny. These goods, essential to various industries such as energy, electronics, textiles, and food, will now be subject to enhanced inspections by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Since August 1, CBP has intercepted over 16,700 shipments with a total value of USD 7 billion, rejecting nearly 10,000 shipments worth approximately USD 900 million due to connections with Uyghur forced labour.
The update also focuses on China's increasing disinformation campaigns throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
A report from the Centre for Uyghur Studies (CUS) reveals that Beijing has been conducting propaganda efforts in Arabic-language state media, social media platforms, and through cultural and religious diplomacy.
These initiatives aim to distort global understanding of the Uyghur genocide, stifle criticism, and manipulate Muslim support. The report warns that China's propaganda, often supported by Russian and Iranian media, is limiting the space for independent journalism and solidifying pro-Beijing narratives in the area. CUS Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris labelled the findings as a "wake-up call" for governments and civil society to protect the truth and back Uyghur Muslims, advocating for greater investment in independent journalism and fact-checking to combat Beijing's influence.
In another development noted by the WUC, The Diplomat recently published a piece by Omer Kanat, President of the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), exposing what he termed the "eliticide" of Uyghur intellectuals.
Kanat elaborated on the continued imprisonment of notable scholars such as poet Dr Abdulqadir Jalaleddin, who has been detained since 2018, and ethnographer Dr Rahile Dawut, who has been missing since 2017.
Both individuals have been held without communication and received long sentences without proper legal processes. He argued that their cases illustrate Beijing's systematic effort to obliterate Uyghur identity by suppressing scholars, writers, and cultural figures.
He called on universities, publishers, and governments around the world to advocate for their release, sever ties with complicit Chinese entities, and ensure that the persecution of Uyghur intellectuals is neither overlooked nor forgotten. (ANI)