World Uyghur Congress marks 1985 Uyghur Student Movement, highlights ongoing crisis in East Turkistan

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) commemorated the 39th anniversary of the 1985 Uyghur Student Movement, a pivotal moment in the history of Uyghur resistance against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

On December 12, thousands of Uyghur students took to the streets of Urumchi to protest the CCP’s discriminatory policies, including racial discrimination, oppressive family planning measures, and atmospheric nuclear testing in the Lop Nur basin of East Turkistan.

The movement, spearheaded by the Tengritagh Generation, a student organization at Xinjiang University, marked the beginning of a significant uprising in the region. The students called for democratic elections in East Turkistan, an end to the influx of Chinese settlers, the cessation of harsh birth control policies, and the preservation of Uyghur cultural education.

Their protests, which lasted for a week, gained significant traction, and Chinese authorities were forced to meet with student representatives to discuss their demands. Despite the CCP’s subsequent crackdown on movement leaders, including the formation of an “Inspection and Disposal Committee” to punish participants, the protests ignited a wave of similar movements across universities in the region, according to WUC statement.

The 1985 protests also set the stage for the later June 15, 1988, democratic youth movement, led by Dolkun Isa, the former president of the WUC. A key issue highlighted during the 1985 protests was the environmental and public health crisis caused by China’s nuclear testing in East Turkistan. Between 1964 and 1996, China conducted 45 nuclear tests in the Lop Nur area, 23 of which were atmospheric tests. Fallout from these tests spread far beyond East Turkistan, with some reaching Europe.

According to research by Professor Jun Takada, approximately 1.48 million individuals in the region were exposed to nuclear fallout, leading to widespread cases of leukemia, cancers, and fetal damage. A 2009 article in Scientific American estimates that radiation-related illnesses resulted in the deaths of about 194,000 individuals in East Turkistan.

Nearly four decades after the 1985 protests, the situation in East Turkistan has worsened dramatically. The Chinese government’s genocidal campaign against the Uyghurs has escalated, with millions detained in concentration camps, coercive family planning policies, forced separations of families, and mass surveillance, according to World Uyghur Congress statement.

Recent reports indicate renewed nuclear testing activities at the Lop Nur site. According to The New York Times report, satellite imagery has shown freshly drilled boreholes, signaling potential plans for larger underground tests.

Significant developments, including the construction of over 30 new buildings since 2017 at the Malan base a key support site for nuclear testing have raised alarm about the ongoing ecological and humanitarian threats posed by these activities, according to the statement.

The World Uyghur Congress has called on the international community to take immediate action to halt China’s nuclear activities in Lop Nur, citing the global dangers of nuclear fallout, which know no borders. The WUC has warned that the fallout from past and potential future tests could extend well beyond East Turkistan, affecting countries across Europe and beyond.

In addition to nuclear concerns, the WUC urged international community to address the exploitation of Uyghur forced labor, particularly as the global focus shifts toward a just transition to green energy.

The Uyghur region has become a hub for highly polluting industries, including the mass production of goods for the fashion, automotive, and solar energy sectors, according to the statement. These industries, driven by Uyghur forced labour, are contributing to severe ecological degradation in the region.