Japan is finding it harder to stay quiet on China’s abuse of Uyghurs

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Japan is finding it harder to stay quiet on China’s abuse of Uyghurs

Halmat Rozi, a Uyghur Muslim living in Japan, protests China's Uyghur policies outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo on March 23. Public awareness of China's repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang is growing in Japan, spurred in part by the work of Uyghur activists, and that is increasing pressure on the government to take action. | NORIKO HAYASHI/THE NEW YORK TIMES

By Hisako Ueno and Ben Dooley
THE NEW YORK TIMES

Apr 3, 2021

Last summer, Halmat Rozi, a Uyghur Muslim living in Japan, received a video call from his brother in China’s western Xinjiang region. His brother said he had someone he wanted Rozi to meet: a Chinese security officer.

China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, had been invited to Japan, and the officer had some questions. Were Rozi and his fellow Uyghur activists planning protests? Who were the group’s leaders? What work were they doing? If Rozi cooperated, his family in China would be well cared for, the officer assured him on a second video call.

The officer’s intent was clear — to discourage Rozi from doing anything that might hurt China’s reputation in Japan. The warning had the opposite effect. Rozi had invited Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, to surreptitiously record the second call, which was later broadcast to millions of viewers.