The Conflict in Xinjiang (2013-2018): The Belt and Road Initiative and the Human Rights Crisis

Abstract

The Xinjiang region is strategic for the imple-mentation of the Belt and Road Initiative due to the natural resources it has and the geographic, political and economic nexus with the countries of Central Asia. This article argues that the policies of the Chinese Government to trigger economic development in the region have brought in parallel, greater repression and exclusion of the Uyghur community in a government attempt to accelerate the cultural, political and economic assimilation of ethnic minorities with the Han culture. There is currently a human rights crisis in the region, which is characterized by a marked deterioration of civil and religious liberties, extreme vigilance, arbitrary detentions, multiplication of reeducation camps, restrictions on freedom of expression and association, etc.