Xi’s crackdown on the region and its Uyghur population has been labeled an attempted genocide by some governments, human rights groups and legal bodies.
Chinese authorities have detained at least 1 million people in detention and reeducation centres and enacted mass surveillance and systematic oppression of religious and cultural expression. Religious and cultural sites have been destroyed or largely closed off to religious observers, according to research groups. The UN last year found credible evidence of torture and other human rights abuses of Uyghur people, while Human Rights Watch and legal watchdogs say crimes against humanity have been committed.
If you look at a map of China’s BRI the reason behind this is obvious; half of China’s major Asian BRI projects go right through the Uyghur territory of Xinjiang. Any kind of rebellion that puts the BRI projects at risk is simply unacceptable to China’s strategic goals.