How China is breaking apart Uyghurs and their culture

WBUR | By Here & Now Newsroom

Published June 5, 2026 at 12:07 PM EDT

A protester wearing a mask bearing the Uighur flag takes part in a "theatrical" demonstration called by members of the Uighur community to protest against the state visit of China's President to France, at The Place de la Madeleine in Paris on May 5, 2024. China's President Xi Jinping is due to arrive in the French capital for a state visit to France on May 6 and 7. (Stefano Rellandini/AFP via Getty Images)

China’s campaign against the Uyghur ethnic minority in the country’s northwest has entered a new phase. The reeducation camps have mostly been closed, but a network of detention centers and prisons remains open, and the surveillance systems monitoring Uyghurs have grown.

Here & Now‘s Scott Tong speaks with Alison Killing, who has reported on the repression of Uyghurs for the Financial Times.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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