This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2019)

In May 2014, theGovernment of the People’s Republic of China launched the “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism” (Chinese: 严厉打击暴力恐怖活动专项行动) in theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).^[1][2] Chinese officials describe the campaign as part of broadercounterterrorism and “stability maintenance” efforts in the region.^[3]Human rights organizations and some scholars contend that authorities have used the global “war on terror” narrative to frameseparatism andethnic unrest asIslamist terrorism and to legitimize expansive security measures inXinjiang.^[4][5][6]

Earlier “Strike Hard” (严打) crackdowns were mounted in Xinjiang during the 1990s, including a Xinjiang-specific campaign announced in 1996, as part of periodic nationwide anti-crime drives.^[7][8][9]

In February 1997, a police roundup and execution of suspected "separatists" duringRamadan led to large demonstrations, which led to a PLA crackdown on protesters resulting in at least nine deaths in what became known as theGhulja incident.^[10][11][12] TheÜrümqi bus bombings later that month killed nine people and injured 68, with Uyghur exile groups claiming responsibility.^[13] In March 1997, a bus bomb killed two people, with responsibility claimed by Uyghur separatists and theTurkey-based "Organisation for East Turkistan Freedom".^[14]

TheJuly 2009 Ürümqi riots, which resulted in over one hundred deaths, broke out in response to theShaoguan incident, a violent dispute between Uyghur and Han Chinese factory workers.^[15] Following the riots, Uyghur terrorists killed dozens of Han Chinese in coordinated attacks from 2009 to 2016.^[16][17] These included theSeptember 2009 Xinjiang unrest,^[18] the2011 Hotan attack,^[19] the2014 Kunming attack,^[20] theApril 2014 Ürümqi attack,^[21] and theMay 2014 Ürümqi attack.^[22] The attacks were conducted by Uyghur separatists, with some orchestrated by theTurkistan Islamic Party (a UN-designated terrorist organization, formerly called the East Turkistan Islamic Movement).^[23]

In April 2010, after theJuly 2009 Ürümqi riots,Zhang Chunxian replaced the former CCP chiefWang Lequan, who had been behind religious policies in Xinjiang for 14 years.^[24] Zhang Chunxian continued Wang's policy and even strengthened them. In 2011, Zhang proposed "modern culture leads the development in Xinjiang" as his policy statement. In 2012, he first mentioned the phrase "de-extremification" (Chinese: 去极端化) campaigns. UnderGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist PartyXi Jinping, the Chinese government began scaling up its military presence in the region and introducing more stringent restrictions onUyghur civil liberties.

In response to growing tensions betweenHan Chinese and the Uyghur population of Xinjiang itself, the recruitment of Uyghurs to fight in theSyrian Civil War, and several terrorist attacks orchestrated by Uyghur separatists, in early 2014, Chinese authorities in Xinjiang launched the renewed "strike hard" campaign around New Year.^[25] It included measures targeting mobile phones, computers, and religious materials belonging to Uyghurs.^[26] The government simultaneously announced a "people's war on terror" and local government introduced new restrictions that included the banning of long beards and the wearing of veils in public places.^[27] Scholars have stated that the most pervasive of the repressive measures in Xinjiang may be the government'suse of digital mass surveillance systems. Authorities collect the DNA,iris scans, and voice samples of the Uyghur population, regularly scan the contents of their digital devices, use digitally coded ID cards to track their movements, and train CCTV cameras on their homes, streets, and marketplaces.^[28][29]

China has received criticism for its mass detention of members of the Muslim Uyghur community from some countries as well as human rights observers. James A. Millward, a scholar who has researched Xinjiang for three decades, declared that the "state repression in Xinjiang has never been as severe as it has become since early 2017".^[30] TheUS State Department has said it is deeply concerned over China's "worsening crackdown" on minority Muslims in Xinjiang and theTrump administration has reportedly consideredsanctions against senior Chinese officials and companies linked to allegations of human rights abuses.^[31] Canadian officials have also raised concern in Beijing and at the United Nations about the internment camps: "We are gravely concerned about the lack of transparency and due process in the cases of the many thousands of Uyghurs detained in so-called 're-education camps', which continues to call into question China's commitment to the rule of law and which violate its international human rights obligations."^[32]

Chinese leader Xi Jinping stated in May 2014 that "practice has proved that our party's ruling strategy in Xinjiang is correct and must be maintained in the long run".^[33]

In November 2018, a UN panel condemnedChina's "deteriorating" human rights record inTibet and Xinjiang. The Chinese government replied saying that such international condemnation was "politically motivated". Vice foreign ministerLe Yucheng responded, "We will not accept the politically driven accusations from a few countries that are fraught with biases, with total disregard for facts. No country shall dictate the definition of democracy and human rights."^[34] China has defended the strike-hard campaign as lawful, asserting that the country is a victim of terrorism, and that Uyghur men are motivated by global jihadi ideology rather than driven by grievances at home. The Chinese government deniesthe internment camps are for the purposes of re-education.^[34]

• Civil Servant-Family Pair Up
• Xinjiang conflict

• Anti-separatism in China
• Cultural assimilation
• Human rights of ethnic minorities in China
• History of Islam in China
• Linguistic discrimination
• Language policy in Xinjiang
• Anti-Islam sentiment in China
• Political repression in China
• Racism in China
• Violence against Muslims
• Xinjiang conflict
• Religious persecution by communists
• Counterterrorism in China

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