China diverting world attention away from Xinjiang crisis, says Swedish Uyghur Committee

STOCKHOLM: The Svenska Uyghur Kommitten (SUK), generally known as the Swedish Uyghur Committee, on Thursday said that China has been creating a facade of development to divert the world's attention away from its abuses in East Turkistan.

The committee said in a statement that China's invasion and occupation of East Turkistan is a 'dark lesson in global manipulation'.

In the statement posted on X, the SUK said, "Since 1949, China's invasion and occupation of East Turkistan have not just been a blueprint for colonization and genocide against the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples; they've been a dark lesson in global manipulation. Through economic leverage and a meticulously crafted facade of modernization, China has convinced much of the world to turn a blind eye to its crimes, all the while presenting itself as a pillar of stability on the world stage.

Claiming it to be a bitter irony, the same statement by the SUK stated that China has been using all of its tools to build a narrative away from the brutal reality of the Xinjiang region.

The statement said, "This is a bitter irony, the very tools China uses to commit and conceal its human rights abuses propaganda, economic coercion, and diplomatic double-speak are now exported as part of its global influence. But behind this facade lies the stark reality of a people fighting for survival. The international community, including nations like Sweden, cannot afford to remain complicit in this charade".

The SUK urged the world that addressing the genocide and occupation tactics of China is necessary but is not enough. They demanded that the world must support the struggle of East Turkistan people for independence.

The statement stated, "It is the only path that guarantees the survival of our people. Independence is not just a moral imperative, it is a strategic necessity in the face of a regime that has proven time and again its willingness to erase entire cultures to achieve its ends".

The world's policymakers and diplomats, do not be fooled by the veneer of progress that China projects, the statement said.

The statement added that one must understand that supporting East Turkistan's independence is not just about standing against oppression--it's about rejecting the global spread of a model that prioritises power over people.

The survival of East Turkistan is a test of whether we will allow autocracy to rewrite the rules of international conduct, or whether we will stand firm in defence of human rights, freedom, and the truth, the statement by the SUK added.