The plight of ethnic Uyghurs in China runs much deeper than it might appear at first glance.
Much of the world is at least generally aware of the treatment of the ethnic Uyghur population in what China calls the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwestern part of the country. We’ve heard a lot about the brutal working and living conditions that amount to slave labor or worse. The U.S., for one, adopted in 2021 the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, banning the importation of all goods originating from the region in question. But that law, and similar ones enacted or contemplated by other countries, haven’t solved the problem. On this episode, we learn how deep it really goes, from Dr. Mamtimin Ala. He is president of the government-in-exile of the Republic of East Turkistan, which is what ethnic Uyghurs call the contested region of China. From his base in Australia, he leads the global movement to confront Chinese state repression, and obtain recognition of East Turkistan. But he’s brutally frank about what he views as “economic genocide” and global indifference to the fate of the Uyghurs, outweighed by China’s overwhelming economic strength and influence. And he says the problem has worldwide ramifications that go far beyond the specific situation of the Uyghurs. Is there hope for relief, in one of the most pressing human rights issues of our day? Hosted by Bob Bowman, Editor-in-Chief of SupplyChainBrain.