The religion of Islam has been practiced in China for over fourteen hundred years. However, recently, the Muslim population has become an extreme minority in the communist empire.

As of July 2019, China had abducted over one million Uighur Muslims from their homes and placed them into camps. When global scrutiny arose, China released statements saying they had released their prisoners, however the U.S. and its allies’ surveillance suggested otherwise.

Released victims are said to have been converted from Islam altogether, leading officials to believe that China’s camps are being used to persuade people away from their faith.

This camp is called a re-education camp– camps where people forced into new thinking, given propaganda, or other false information by means of torture and brainwashing– which U.S. Secretary Mike Pompe said is “the stain of the century.” (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/09/world/asia/china-xinjiang-muslim-detention.html)

China has not commented on said claims.

Oct. 2, 2019, at a conference in Vatican City, Pompeo criticized China’s modern-day internment camps. 

“Today we must gird ourselves for another battle in defense of human dignity and religious freedom,” Pompeo said. “The stakes are arguably higher than they were even during the Cold War because the threats are more diverse and more numerous.” (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-vatican-pompeo/pompeo-blasts-china-over-uighur-muslims-during-vatican-visit-idUSKBN1WH17M)

According to reformed citizens from the camps, they were taught many trades and skills. They were even taught how to fluently speak and write chinese. But this may have come at the cost of their former cultural upbringings.

Other escaped citizens claim that the Chinese government was harvesting organs from people who refused to convert. These claims are being investigated by the Chinese Embassy and other allied powers

In the past, China has had a history of wiping out separatism for the sake of keeping China pure, but as new information unfolds, officials and citizens around the world turn to watch China’s next move.