Authorities in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are ordering Uyghurs to “modernize” the interiors of their homes by ridding them of traditional ethnic decor and adding Sinicized furniture, largely to the benefit of majority Han Chinese entrepreneurs, sources said. In recent months, officials in the XUAR have been promoting the “Sanxin Huodong,” or “Three News,” campaign to force Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities to abandon the rugs and pillows they traditionally use as furniture in their homes and replace them with sofas, beds, and desks, according to Uyghur sources inside the region and living in exile abroad.
The campaign follows one in which authorities in the XUAR allocated more than 4 billion yuan (U.S. $575 million) to “modernize” the lifestyles of residents in the region, in part by destroying elements of traditional Uyghur design, including mihrabs, or ornate domed niches built into a wall or ceiling to denote the correct direction one should face when praying to Mecca.
Those who do not follow the directives risk being labeled religious extremists and placed in the region’s vast network of internment camps, where authorities are believed to have held some 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities since April 2017.
