Ilham Tohti has condemned counterproductive policies causing instability in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The failure to adequately protect religious, linguistic and cultural freedoms not only hurts Uyghur and other Central Asian minorities, but also threatens the very stability and legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. If the government truly wants to “stand up for the truth” and correct mistakes, then it must listen to the voices of the people and heed their words well.

Julia Famularo is a research affiliate at the Project 2049 Institute and former editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.