A leaked list of thousands of detained #Uyghurs has helped Nursimangul Abdureshid shed some light on the whereabouts of her missing family members, who have disappeared in #China's sweeping crackdown on Xinjiang. france24.com/en/live-news/2…
Abdureshid, who now lives in Turkey, lost contact with her family five years ago. It took until 2020 for the Chinese embassy in Ankara to confirm that her younger brother Memetili, as well as her parents, had been imprisoned for terrorism-related offences.
But a suspected police list leaked to Uyghur activists outside China has located Memetili in a prison outside the city of Aksu, some 600 kilometres (375 miles) from their home.
He was sentenced to 15 years and 11 months in jail, the documents show -- a figure confirmed by Beijing's embassy in Ankara.

"It is much better than not knowing anything about where he is. There is a small happiness," Abdureshid, 33, told AFP from Istanbul.
The previously unreported database, which has been seen by AFP, lists over 10,000 imprisoned Uyghurs from southwestern Xinjiang's Konasheher county -- including over 100 from Abdureshid's village.
Abdureshid recognised the names of seven other villagers on the list of detainees -- all small business owners or farm workers who she says would not have links to terrorism.
"When I search this list I just feel like I can't breathe," she said.

The leaked list details each prisoner's name, birthdate, ethnicity, ID number, charge, address, sentence length, and prison.
It has not been possible to independently verify the authenticity of the database.

But AFP has interviewed five Uyghurs living outside China who identified detained relatives and acquaintances on the list.
For some it was the first information they have been able to access about their relatives in years. Hundreds were detained from each township and village, the database shows, often many from the same household.
"This is not clearly-targeted anti-terrorism. It's going to every door and taking a number of people away. It really shows they're arbitrarily targeting a community and dispersing it across a region," said @ReasonablyRagin.
@AbduwelA told AFP he recognised the names of around 30 relatives and neighbours on the leaked list. "In Oghusaq, my father's home village, and Opal, my mother's home village, you can see that every house has someone detained," Ayup said.
He adds that they were mostly tradespeople and illiterate farmers.

"My cousin was just a farmer. If you ask him what is 'terrorism', he couldn't even read the word, even less understand it."
A second suspected leaked police database seen by AFP identifies another 18,000 Uyghurs, mostly from Kashgar and Aksu prefectures, detained between 2008 and 2015.

Of these the vast majority were charged with vague terrorism-related offences.
One Uyghur living in Europe who wishes to stay anonymous told AFP he recognised six friends on the second list, including one who was 16 at the time of detention.

"I was devastated to see so many people I knew," he told AFP.

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More from @WilliamYang120

May 14
A Senate candidate in Australia billing himself as a choice for social harmony has a long history of activity with #China's government's main arm of overseas influence, the United Front Work Department. abc.net.au/news/2022-05-1…
Canberra-based Dr Li Fuxin — the founder and principal of a Chinese language school — announced his intent to run for Australia's upper house as an independent in late March.
While he declared he was running on a platform of multiculturalism, education and business, he was less forthcoming about the fact that, in recent years, he has cultivated important ties to #Beijing, mainly through senior positions within provincial arms of the United Front.
Read 6 tweets
May 14
From @shenlulushen and @yifanxie: "More than two years of border restrictions and a protracted lockdown of #Shanghai are prompting some Chinese citizens to contemplate emigration, a prospect once unthinkable for many of them." wsj.com/articles/china…
One Shanghai resident was close to securing a coveted Shanghai residency permit. But the citywide lockdown, which has lasted more than six weeks, has shaken her and left her looking for a way out. She is now planning to emigrate to the U.S., where her employer is based.
Another Shanghai resident, Chester Yu, first began forming plans to leave China in early 2020 when the initial outbreak swept across China. “I felt like I was in jail. I could sense where China was heading back then,” he said.
Read 13 tweets
May 13
Following Marcos Jr.'s win in the Philippines' presidential election, a lot of discussions have been around how this development might affect Manila's relationship with the US and #China. @che_huai helps to unpack the complexity in an interview. My latest: dw.com/zh/%E5%B0%88%E…
"I think Marcos Jr.'s policy will probably fall somewhere between Duterte's and his predecessor, President Aquino III's. Duterte is a firm believer of being 'pro-China while distancing Manila from the U.S.'
He has a deep-rooted dislike for the United States, and he believes from the bottom of his heart that China is an important partner that can help the Philippines develop."
Read 36 tweets
May 13
Breaking: #Taiwan reported 64972 local cases, 41 deaths and 217 cases with moderate or serious symptoms. The number of deaths is the highest since the start of this wave of outbreak. cna.com.tw/news/ahel/2022…
The age of the 41 death cases are between 50 and 90, and 40 of those cases have chronic health issues and 2 have not received any vaccine.
The number of #COVID19 deaths in #Taiwan is gradually growing over the last two days, as the numbers have topped the highest of this outbreak for two days in a row.
Read 5 tweets
May 13
From @cnmediaproject: "Days before her death on May 4, #Shanghai journalist Tong Weijing was kept busy writing from lockdown for one of the city's leading state-run daily. State media have responded with silence to the tragic news of her passing." chinamediaproject.org/2022/05/12/pas…
"Among the first to report the news of Tong’s death was the WeChat public account “Media Daily” (传媒见闻). In its post on May 5, the account quoted a colleague of Tong’s as saying: ...
... 'Confined for too long [under lockdown], the girl had heart problems the past few days, and perhaps was depressed. Her parents are devastated.'"
Read 15 tweets
May 13
"Right now, expats who want to escape #Shanghai typically need consular assistance, approval from community leaders to get extra non-government Covid tests, a registered driver to take them to the airport, and a ticket on a rare flight out." edition.cnn.com/2022/05/12/asi…
"The few people out on the streets were mostly dressed in hazmat suits, police included. Checkpoints lined the route to the airport, and when my driver was stopped, officers spent several minutes inspecting our documents: flight confirmation emails, ...
... negative Covid tests, even a letter from the US Embassy. As we pulled up outside the terminal, I realized there were no other cars or passengers in sight -- and for a fleeting second I feared my flight had been canceled."
Read 16 tweets

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