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We Uyghurs Have No Say

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We Uyghurs Have No Say

An Imprisoned Writer Speaks

Verso Books,

15 min read
8 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Chinese imperialist attitudes toward the Uyghurs have endured, says this noted Uyghur dissident.

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Eloquent
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

China took Xinjiang by conquest in the late 1800s, and although the Chinese constitution promises them autonomy, the region’s Uyghur people are still waiting for those promises to be kept. Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, now serving a life sentence for writing about these issues, explains how broken commitments, religious intolerance and totalitarian ethnonationalism have contributed to Uyghur discontent. Anyone with an interest in China or in human rights should be aware of this important insider’s take on the Uyghur experience.

Summary

Before his incarceration, Uyghur academic Ilham Tohti was outspoken in his criticism of China’s treatment of ethnic minorities.

Tohti was only two years old when the Cultural Revolution claimed his father’s life in 1971. Although his grandfather was illiterate, Tohti’s father pursued university studies and served in the military, but Tohti knows little else about his father or why he died. The author’s brothers also served in the military and in public security; in fact, one is a Communist Party secretary and member of the Kizilsu Kirghiz People’s Political Consultative Conference. Tohti began his university studies at the age of 16. He pursued a master’s degree at Minzu University’s Institute of Economic Research and in 2003, he joined the university’s faculty.

Having traveled in regions plagued by ethnic conflict, Tohti decided to focus his research on matters pertaining to the region of Xinjiang and to Central Asia. He started publishing academic articles about Xinjiang in 1994 – a move that resulted in the authorities branding him a political figure. The government began to...

About the Author

Ilham Tohti is a Uyghur economist serving a life sentence in China on separatism-related charges. He was the host of the website Uyghur Online, lectured in economics at Beijing's Minzu University, and is known for his essays on Uyghur and Han Chinese relations.

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