The Chessboard

The genocide of the Uyghurs

As of October 2026, China still holds hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in its prisons, moves many more into forced labour, and is erasing their faith and language, while most Muslim-majority states defend it at the UN. Choose a future scenario to see where each state would stand, and choose it again to return to today.

Future scenarios
Yemen — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyVietnam — No public positionUzbekistan — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyUnited Arab Emirates — Sends Uyghurs back to China — deportations and detentions at its requestUkraine — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangUganda — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyTurkmenistan — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyTurkey — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangThailand — Sends Uyghurs back to China — deportations and detentions at its requestTajikistan — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyTaiwan — Government or parliament has called it genocideSyria — No public positionSouth Sudan — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policySudan — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policySri Lanka — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policySouth Korea — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangSomalia — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangSomaliland — No public positionSaudi Arabia — Sends Uyghurs back to China — deportations and detentions at its requestRussia — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyRomania — Sanctions Chinese officials or bans goods made with forced labourQatar — Voted to block the UN debate on Xinjiang (2022), without signing the lettersPhilippines — No public positionPakistan — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyOman — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyNorth Korea — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyNepal — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyMongolia — No public positionMoldova — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangMalaysia — Abstained on the 2022 debate, or keeps close ties with China and stays quietLithuania — Government or parliament has called it genocideLebanon — No public positionLatvia — Sanctions Chinese officials or bans goods made with forced labourLaos — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyKyrgyzstan — No public positionKuwait — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyKenya — No public positionKazakhstan — Voted to block the UN debate on Xinjiang (2022), without signing the lettersJordan — No public positionJapan — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangIsrael — Signed UN joint statements criticising China over XinjiangPalestine — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyIraq — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyIran — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyIndonesia — Voted to block the UN debate on Xinjiang (2022), without signing the lettersIndia — Abstained on the 2022 debate, or keeps close ties with China and stays quietGreece — Sanctions Chinese officials or bans goods made with forced labourGeorgia — No public positionEthiopia — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyEritrea — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyEgypt — Sends Uyghurs back to China — deportations and detentions at its requestDjibouti — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyN. Cyprus — No public positionCyprus — Sanctions Chinese officials or bans goods made with forced labourDR Congo — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyChina — China — the perpetratorHong Kong — China — the perpetratorCentral African Republic — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyCambodia — Sends Uyghurs back to China — deportations and detentions at its requestMyanmar — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyBulgaria — Sanctions Chinese officials or bans goods made with forced labourBrunei — No public positionBhutan — No public positionBelarus — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyBangladesh — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyBahrain — Signed UN statements defending China's Xinjiang policyAzerbaijan — No public positionArmenia — Abstained on the 2022 debate, or keeps close ties with China and stays quietAfghanistan — No public positionSiachen Glacier — No public positionYemenUzbekistanUAEUkraineTurkm.TurkeyThailandTajikistanTaiwanSyriaSudanSri LankaSomaliaSaudi ArabiaRussiaQatarPakistanOmanNepalMongoliaMalaysiaKyrgyzstanKazakhstanJapanIraqIranIndonesiaIndiaEgyptChinaCambodiaMyanmarBangladeshAfghanistanEast Turkistan (Xinjiang)

← Defends China's policyFor the Uyghurs →

  1. China — carries out the campaign
  2. Hands Uyghurs back to China
  3. Defends China's policy at the UN
  4. Voted to shield China from a UN debate
  5. Abstains or stays quiet, close to China
  6. No public position
  7. Criticises China in UN joint statements
  8. Acts — sanctions or forced-labour bans
  9. Calls it genocide

The Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims of East Turkistan

The powers today

Who stands where

China holds the Uyghurs under mass imprisonment, forced labour and forced assimilation; most Muslim-majority states defend it at the UN, a few Western parliaments call it genocide, and no court has taken it up.

Tap a state on the map, or a card below, for what it does.

The main actors, from most to least support for the Uyghurs — why they stand where they do

  • Historical

    • East Turkistan republics (1933–34, 1944–49)
    • Taken by the People's Republic (1949)
    • Han settlement and the Bingtuan (Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps)
    • 'Strike Hard' campaigns from 1996

    Today

    • Release of the detained and disappeared
    • End of forced labour and birth suppression
    • Their faith, language and children
    • Safety abroad from deportation

    Capacity

    Political

    • World Uyghur Congress, Campaign for Uyghurs, UHRP
    • No state and no seat at the UN
    • Survivors' testimony

    Economic

    • Land, cotton and labour under state control
    • Diaspora of a few hundred thousand, largest in Kazakhstan and Turkey

    Military

    • None

    Memberships

    Military

    • None

    Economic

    • None

    Other bodies

    • World Uyghur Congress (Munich, 2004)
    • Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

  • Historical

    • Listed ETIM as terrorist (2002), delisted it (2020)
    • Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (2020)

    Today

    • Rivalry with China
    • Forced-labour trade enforcement
    • Bipartisan pressure in Congress
    • Trade deals with Beijing, critics say, ahead of rights

    Capacity

    Political

    • Security Council veto
    • Genocide determination (2021)
    • Global Magnitsky sanctions

    Economic

    • GDP about $29 trillion
    • UFLPA entity list: 187 firms
    • The dollar and sanctions

    Military

    • Defence budget near $900 billion
    • Alliances across the Pacific

    Memberships

    Military

    • NATO
    • Five Eyes
    • AUKUS
    • Quad

    Economic

    • G7
    • G20
    • OECD
    • USMCA

    Other bodies

    • Security Council permanent member
    • Left the Human Rights Council (2025)

  • Historical

    • Turkic kinship: 'Uyghur Turks'
    • Haven for Uyghur exiles since the 1950s

    Today

    • Chinese trade and investment
    • About 50,000 Uyghurs at home
    • Nationalist public opinion
    • Balancing NATO and the East

    Capacity

    Political

    • NATO member
    • Largest Uyghur diaspora outside Central Asia

    Economic

    • GDP about $1.3 trillion
    • Seeks Chinese investment

    Military

    • NATO's second-largest army
    • Drone industry

    Memberships

    Military

    • NATO
    • SCO dialogue partner

    Economic

    • G20
    • OECD
    • EU Customs Union
    • D-8

    Other bodies

    • OIC
    • Organisation of Turkic States
    • Council of Europe

  • Historical

    • Kazakh kin across the border
    • Soviet-era refuge for Uyghurs

    Today

    • Chinese trade, pipelines and the Belt and Road
    • Public anger over detained relatives
    • Keeping protest in check

    Capacity

    Political

    • About 1,780 km of border with Xinjiang
    • Kin of Xinjiang's Kazakhs

    Economic

    • GDP about $290 billion
    • Oil and gas pipelines to China
    • Khorgos border gateway

    Military

    • About 40,000 active
    • CSTO member

    Memberships

    Military

    • CSTO
    • SCO

    Economic

    • Eurasian Economic Union
    • Belt and Road

    Other bodies

    • OIC
    • Organisation of Turkic States

  • Historical

    • Non-alignment; Bandung (1955)

    Today

    • Chinese investment in nickel and rail
    • Mass organisations courted by Beijing
    • Non-interference

  • Historical

    • 'All-weather friendship' since the 1960s
    • China as counterweight to India

    Today

    • CPEC investment and Chinese loans
    • Chinese arms
    • China's backing on Kashmir

    Capacity

    Political

    • Reads China's UN statements on Xinjiang
    • Borders Xinjiang on the Karakoram

    Economic

    • GDP about $375 billion
    • CPEC: about $60 billion pledged
    • China its largest bilateral lender

    Military

    • About 650,000 active
    • About 170 nuclear warheads (SIPRI)
    • Chinese-made jets and frigates

    Memberships

    Military

    • SCO (2017)
    • Major non-NATO ally of the US (2004)
    • Mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia (2025)

    Economic

    • China–Pakistan Economic Corridor
    • Economic Cooperation Organisation
    • D-8

    Other bodies

    • OIC
    • Commonwealth

  • Historical

    • Soviet backing of the second East Turkistan republic (1944–49)

    Today

    • Partnership with China against the West
    • Mutual shield at the UN
    • Rejecting scrutiny of its own wars

  • Historical

    • Erawan Shrine bombing (2015), for which two Uyghur men were tried

    Today

    • Close ties with China
    • Chinese tourism and investment
    • Said it 'had no choice' (2025)

  • Historical

    • Oil to China
    • Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques

    Today

    • China its largest trading partner
    • Vision 2030 investment
    • China brokered its deal with Iran (2023)
    • A shared line on 'extremism'

    Capacity

    Political

    • Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
    • OIC host

    Economic

    • GDP about $1.1 trillion
    • China its largest trading partner

    Military

    • Defence budget about $75 billion
    • Mutual defence pact with Pakistan (2025)

    Memberships

    Military

    • GCC joint command
    • Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (leader)
    • SCO dialogue partner

    Economic

    • G20
    • OPEC and OPEC+ (leader)
    • Gulf Cooperation Council

    Other bodies

    • Arab League
    • OIC (host)

  • Historical

    • Hub for Chinese trade

    Today

    • Hostility to political Islam
    • Chinese investment and technology
    • Security cooperation with Beijing

    Capacity

    Political

    • Voted to block the 2022 debate
    • Dubai: transit and finance hub

    Economic

    • GDP about $540 billion
    • Sovereign funds over $1.5 trillion

    Military

    • About 65,000 active
    • US air base at al-Dhafra

    Memberships

    Military

    • GCC joint command
    • Major Defence Partner of the US (2024)
    • SCO dialogue partner

    Economic

    • BRICS (2024)
    • OPEC
    • Gulf Cooperation Council

    Other bodies

    • Arab League
    • OIC

  • Historical

    • Qing conquest (1759); 'Xinjiang' means 'new frontier'
    • Fear of separatism after the Soviet breakup
    • Urumqi unrest (2009) and attacks in 2013–14

    Today

    • 'Stability' and the Party's rule
    • 'Sinicisation' (making Chinese) of Islam
    • Belt and Road gateway to Central Asia
    • Cotton, polysilicon, coal and minerals
    • Silencing the diaspora

    Capacity

    Political

    • Security Council veto
    • Rallies 70–80 states to defend it at the UN, by its count
    • Outside the ICC; reservation to the Genocide Convention's court clause

    Economic

    • GDP about $19 trillion
    • Largest trading partner of most Muslim states
    • Belt and Road lender

    Military

    • About 2 million active (IISS)
    • About 600 nuclear warheads (SIPRI, 2025)
    • Armed Police and the Bingtuan in Xinjiang

    Memberships

    Military

    • Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (founder)
    • Treaty of alliance with North Korea (1961)

    Economic

    • BRICS
    • G20
    • RCEP
    • AIIB (founder)

    Other bodies

    • Security Council permanent member
    • Human Rights Council (2024–26)

Beyond the map