Children play with water toys at a public square in Aksu in western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on April 20. (AP Photo)
BEIJING Xinjiang in far western China had the sharpest known decline in birthrates between 2017 and 2019 of any territory in recent history, according to a new analysis by an Australian think tank.
The report from the Australian Strategy Policy Institute, obtained exclusively ahead of publication by The Associated Press, showed the 48.74 percent decline was concentrated in areas with many Uighurs, Kazakhs and other largely Muslim ethnic minorities, based on Chinese government statistics over nearly a decade.
Birthrates in largely minority counties fell 43.7 percent between 2017 and 2018 alone, with over 160,000 fewer babies born. That compares to a slight increase in births in counties populated mostly by China’s Han majority.
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Drop in Xinjiang birthrate largest in recent history
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Anonymous Xinjiang report attracts angst, agreement in questioning ‘genocide’ definition Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
International pressure against China over its Xinjiang policies has gained traction in recent months, with China criticised over the treatment of Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. China has denied allegations of forced labour and detention. We look at the issues in this series.
Why would an anonymous, unpublished, non-peer reviewed, allegedly academic report attract the attention and angst of a tribe of China watchers? Answer: the topic is Xinjiang.
The vast Xinjiang region of China - three times the size of France and with a population of 25.8 million - has drawn intense controversy over allegations of forced labour and state-sponsored internment of people from Muslim ethnic groups living there.