China, United Arab Emirates (UAE) hold joint air force drills in Xinjiang - where China has arbitrarily detained up to a million Muslims, according to rights groups
Human rights lawyer Kenneth Roth on Xitter:
“The United Arab Emirates government is so contemptuous of human rights that it is holding military exercises with China in Xinjiang of all places, the site of Beijing’s mass detention and persecution of Uyghur Muslims.”
China and the United Arab Emirates are holding military training exercises this week in Xinjiang, as Emirati-Chinese defense ties see a boost despite US concerns.
The joint air force training exercise, dubbed Falcon Shield, began on Wednesday in the northwest Xinjiang province of China. Officers and soldiers from both countries attended the opening ceremony, including the UAE’s deputy military attache in China.
Xinjiang province, where the exercise took place, is home to China’s Uyghur Muslim community. China has been widely criticized for its treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities there. According to observers such as Human Rights Watch, China has detained up to a million Muslims in Xinjiang in recent years as part of its anti-terror campaign. The United Nations’ Human Rights Office released a report in 2022 detailing human rights issues in the region.
“The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups, pursuant to law and policy, in context of restrictions and deprivation more generally of fundamental rights enjoyed individually and collectively, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” said the UN.
