WUC Amplifies Uyghur Advocacy Amidst Anniversaries in Europe and Japan

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) marked two landmark anniversaries with a sweeping advocacy campaign, shedding light on the plight of the Uyghur people. Seventy-six years have passed since the annexation of the East Turkistan Republic, and seventy years since China proclaimed the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The WUC hosted a high-profile event at the European Parliament, led by MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, to trace the systematic erosion of Uyghur rights and expose China's hollow promises under the XUAR framework.

Throughout the month, the WUC ramped up their advocacy efforts across Europe, holding strategic meetings with policymakers to strengthen alliances. Delegates convened at the German Bundestag, briefed European diplomats on China's troubling labor transfer schemes involving Uyghurs, and updated members of the European Parliament and EU institutions on the ongoing developments in East Turkistan. Participation in the International Forum 2000 showcased WUC's unwavering commitment to global cooperation on human rights issues. In a late October highlight, WUC representatives addressed China's overreach at the influential VOC's China Forum.

Meanwhile, in Japan, a symposium organized by the Japan Uyghur Association (JUA) and the Japan Uyghur Parliamentary Association at the National Diet questioned China's ethnic policy. The long-titled conference, "70 Years Since the Establishment of the Nameless ‘Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region' - Questioning China's Ethnic Policy," drew over 80 attendees, including lawmakers and journalists. Discussion led by experts such as Professor Jun Kumakura and journalist Nobuhiro Sakamoto spotlighted urgent human rights concerns, including forced sterilization.

Furthermore, the WUC called on major European insurance and security companies to reconsider their use of surveillance technologies from Hikvision and Dahua, citing connections to human rights abuses. In France, joining forces with Don't Fund Russian Army (DFRA) and Bourdon & Associes, the WUC lodged a criminal complaint against Huawei, Hikvision, and Dahua, accusing them of complicity in Uyghur surveillance — actions that they argue amount to crimes against humanity. The advocacy campaign wrapped up with a united protest in Berlin, as WUC and allied groups stood in solidarity against China's repression on the country's National Day. (ANI)