Report says China using aid to control Uyghurs in Xinjiang

A new report by Uyghur Rights Monitor, “Weaponized Development: How Xinjiang Aid Drives Repression,” reveals how China’s state-led aid programs in Xinjiang serve as tools of surveillance and control rather than genuine development. The report argues that “paired assistance” projects, vocational centers, and model villages are designed to enforce ideological conformity and erase Uyghur identity under the guise of poverty alleviation. Citing government records and policy directives, the report shows how aid is tied to political loyalty and cultural assimilation, warning that similar models could spread to other minority regions in China.