East Turkistan Government in Exile urges community to refrain from travelling to China

Beijing [China], (ANI): The East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) urged the Uyghur community living abroad to refrain from travelling to Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), claiming that it would aid the Chinese oppression and forceful invasion in the region and would weaken the efforts of the international community and help spread Chinese propaganda.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile, further claimed that such actions “legitimise China’s crimes, weaken international support, and bolster China’s false propaganda.”

“East Turkistanis who travel to and from Occupied East Turkistan amidst the ongoing Uyghur Genocide aid the Chinese invaders and oppressors and undermine our independence efforts. Such actions legitimise China’s crimes, weaken international support, and bolster China’s false propaganda,” the statement on X read.

“We urge you to cancel travel plans, refuse cooperation, report those who have travelled back and forth and report any coercion. Your actions impact our national security and the fight against the ongoing genocide,” it added.

Referring to the East Turkistani community, the statement stated, “Your actions are causing significant harm to our entire nation and our struggle to restore our national independence. While our people in East Turkistan suffer from extensive genocide by the Chinese invaders, with millions enduring unimaginable hardships in prisons and concentration camps, how can you align yourselves with these aggressors? Is this not an act of betrayal?”

They asserted that the rise in the number of travellers to East Turkistan will pose a sense of normalcy instead of highlighting the ongoing genocide of the Chinese mainland in the XUAR region.

The statement further pointed out that the Chinese government only issues a visa to East Turkistan if the traveller accepts to act as a spy for the mainland.

“Remember, the Chinese government issues visas solely on the condition that you act as spies. There is no other way to travel to our homeland. By agreeing to this, you are betraying your compatriots. Each of your visits plays into the hands of the Chinese invaders, legitimising their crimes against our people and nullifying the efforts of East Turkistanis in exile who have long fought to restore our independence. You are contributing to the false Chinese propaganda claiming “everything is normal in Xinjiang,” the statement read.

“Consider this during each visit, how many Uyghur and other Turkic women are forcibly sterilized? How many of our women and girls are violated? How many of our youth are sent to China for slave labor? How many of our children are separated from their parents and placed in “boarding schools” designed for brainwashing and assimilation?” the statement added.

The East Turkistan Government in Exile claimed that each visit of the travellers provides an opportunity for China to justify its ethnic cleansing crimes, weakens international sympathy for the people of East Turkistan and diminishes support for their “independence struggle.”

“This allows the aggressors even more freedom to commit genocide,” they added.