Uyghur-American protesters in the Los Angeles community gathered in
front of the federal building at 11000 Wilshire Blvd. on Thursday to
protest recent violence in Xinjiang, China. The Uyghur are a Turkic
ethnic group that lives in eastern and central Asia.Nine million
Uyghurs live in Xinjiang, which became part of the People’s Republic of
China in 1949, according to The Associated Press. The protesters joined together to protest against the Chinese government following ethnic tensions between the Turkic Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese. None of the protesters wished to be quoted, and they chose not to share their names or personal information in order to retain anonymity and to avoid negative repercussions for family members still in Xinjiang. Many of the protesters accused the Chinese government of allowing Han Chinese residents of Turkistan to kill Uyghurs at will.
Compiled by Mike Chen, Carolyn McGough and Samantha Masunaga, Bruin senior staff.