The city of Ghulja, East Turkestan (officially called Yining, Xinjiang by China), became a battleground on February 5, 1997. Thousands of peaceful Uyghur demonstrators took to the streets to demand justice, freedom, and an end to religious and cultural repression. The response? Brutal violence from Chinese security forces, mass arrests, and the cold-blooded killing of innocent people. Today, on its 28th anniversary, we remember the lives lost and the crimes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has tried to erase from history.
On that bitter winter morning, thousands of Uyghurs gathered in the streets of Ghulja, chanting for freedom and equal rights. The Chinese authorities had long been suffocating Uyghur culture—banning traditional meshrep gatherings and arresting religious leaders under fabricated charges of "separatism."