China strips Uyghur identity from place names, Human Rights Watch says

Religious, cultural, historical words replaced by ones aligned with Communist Party ideology

20240618 Security cameras in Urumqi

Security cameras are installed in Urumqi, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, in 2021. (File photo by Kyodo)

KENJI KAWASE, Nikkei Asia chief business news correspondent

HONG KONG -- Chinese authorities have been renaming villages in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, shedding those with links to Uyghur heritage in favor of those that reflect Communist Party ideology, according to Human Rights Watch.

The U.S.-based nonprofit watchdog said in a report published on Wednesday that it identified about 630 such changes in an investigation with Norwegian human rights group, Uyghur Hjelp.

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