The Chinese government is oppressing the ethnic minority groups, infringing on their human rights throughout the country for the purpose of assimilating them into the Chinese culture and society. It is now a serious political issue in the international society, and countries such as the UK, France and the US are strongly demanding the Chinese government to stop such inhuman acts. However, the Chinese government has never made any favorable responses. In Japan, the Association of Japanese Local Assembly Members Supporting Uyghurs, which supports the Uyghur ethnic minority group in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, was established on November 18 this year, and one of its local meetings was held at Onojo Madokapia — Onojo City’s multi-purpose center — in Fukuoka Prefecture on November 29. I was invited to this meeting as a guest.
In my speech at the meeting, I briefly explained about the Japanese Diet members’ movements to support the ethnic minority groups including the Uyghur ethnic minority group in China, and stressed that the Japanese government and people would protest against the Chinese government’s oppression of the ethnic minority groups in China. Several directors of the Japan Uyghur Association appealed in tears to the audience the hardships of the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They told us that “more than one million Uyghur people are interned in concentration camps,” and that “this is China’s state crime.” Their words moved me and my heart was filled with deep sorrow.
