Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan | Photo Credit: IANS

Key Highlights 'The scale of what is happening in India is not comparable to what is supposedly happening to the Uighurs in China' 'We do talk about things with China privately, not publicly, as these are sensitive issues' Xinjiang is a resource-rich region and is key to President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan backed China over the persecution of Uighur Muslims. In an interview with the German state broadcaster, Deutsche Welle Khan was asked about not being very vocal about the Chinese suppression of the Uighur people. To this, the Pakistani Prime Minister replied that “the scale of what is happening in India is not comparable to what is supposedly happening to the Uighurs in China.”

The other reason Khan gave was that China was Pakistan’s great friend and helped the country in its most difficult times because of the economic crisis his government had inherited.

We do talk about things with China privately, not publicly, as these are sensitive issues, Khan said.

The resource-rich region in China’s far west has a population of over 26 million people and according to Human Rights Watch, the Uighur people are forced to learn Mandarin under President Xi Jinping ‘One China’ policy. Subjected to 24/7 surveillance, the Uighurs are also forced to give their DNA and biometric samples to the police.

Last year, over 400 pages of classified Chinese government documents and blueprints were leaked the world media highlighting the unprecedented crackdown on the Uighur ethnic minority.

Millions of Uighurs are currently imprisoned in state-run re-education camps and according to a 2017 report from Xinjiang Ministry of Justice their main aim is to “wash brains, cleanse hearts, support the right, remove the wrong.”

Beijing has also deployed cutting edge technology by using data and artificial intelligence to keep an eye on the Uighur population. To boost this new form of social control on the masses the Chinese authorities are using mass surveillance technology to keep a close eye on the Uighurs and according to a report, after this system was operational it gave the names of thousands of Uighurs in just one week for detention or interrogation.