MICK STETSON
THE UYGHURS: BEIJNG’S RESTIVE NEIGHBOR
In the shadow of Muztagh-Ata Mountain, women wash their families’ clothes in water warmed on a pot-belly stove fueled with manure.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
“Ethnic groups like the Uyghurs express a cultural worldview that does not neatly fit into the free-market capitalism paradigm that China has adopted. Technology is certainly making inroads into the daily fabric of Uyghur life, yet their ancient customs and cultural belief systems persistently “hang on.”
– Mick Stetson
A Uyghur mother and her newborn visiting the Kashgar open market.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
Since ancient times, the Imperial power of China has tried to contain its nomadic neighbors. The most notable attempt was the construction of the Great Wall between 220 and 206 BC. Today, this containment continues, but not in the form of stone walls. The walls that exist today are built on the idea that our social world should be absolute, not diverse, multifaceted, or evolving indeterminably.
Since 2014, after a series of violent anti-government attacks in the western autonomous region of Xinjiang, the Chinese government has built hundreds of “re-education camps” in an effort to turn ethnic Uyghurs into loyal citizens and supporters of the communist party.
After being led through a labyrinth of back alleyways by a group of girls who wanted their picture taken, these Uyghur boys scrambled together into a moment for their own group portrait.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
For centuries, caravans have passed through this plateau along the fabled Silk Roads, transporting goods between China, Pakistan and beyond. Muztagh-Ata Mountain towers above the plateau at 7546 meters above sea level.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
Inside these camps, hundreds of Uighur Muslims are detained for indefinite periods and forced to sing communist party hymns, write self-criticism essays, study China’s common language, and other activities designed to help those infected with the ideological virus of Islamic extremism recover their mental health.
The Chinese government maintains that these camps are not a punitive measure of forced incarceration but, instead, a rescue operation to help the patient regain a healthy mental state, similar to someone staying in a treatment program at a hospital.
According to a 2018 New York Times report, people are sent to these “transformation-through-education” centers to recite a verse from the Quran, visit relatives abroad, own books on religion and Uighur culture, grow a beard, participate in Uyghur cultural events, or wear a T-shirt with a Muslim crescent.
Although this internment/indoctrination program is limited to Xinjiang, its scale and ferocity is the most insidious since the Mao era, affecting thousands of ordinary, non-violent Uyghur Muslims.
A butcher prepares cuts of meat to cook in his restaurant or sell in the open market near the central mosque.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
As recently as February 27, 2025, the Thai government violated domestic and international law, becoming indirectly complicit with China’s human rights violations. Under political pressure from the Chinese government, the Thai government deported 40 Uyghur men who had been detained in Bangkok’s Suan Phlu immigration detention center for over a decade. China adamantly states that the men have finally been repatriated. However, the reality is more likely that the men will not have access to their families, and they will run the risk of facing persecution, torture, and long-term imprisonment.
In a very general sense, the world as it is emerging in the twenty-first century contains three worldviews: the developed nations, the developing nations, and the others. Both the developed nations and the developing nations herald one global paradigm for success—free-market capitalism, a theology of prosperity. However, what happens to the others who are not part of a nation?
Ethnic groups like the Uyghurs express a cultural worldview that does not neatly fit into the free-market capitalism paradigm that China has adopted. The Uyghurs were originally pastoral nomads that may be traced back to the Xiongdu confederation on the eastern steppes of Asia, including present-day Xinjiang. Technology is certainly making inroads into the daily fabric of Uyghur life, yet their ancient customs and cultural belief systems persistently “hang on.”
Language plays a significant role in this phenomenon. It is embedded with specific cultural and worldview references, reflecting both the inner and outer environment of a particular ethnic group. Language also unravels the mysteries and beauties of a culture as it is used in music, poetry, or any other artistic expression.
It’s these cultural aspects that the Chinese government is trying to eradicate.
Buying, selling, or only admiring the livestock area is one of the busiest attractions of the Sunday market and the reason Uyghurs travel many hours and kilometers to visit it.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
Should ethnic groups like the Uyghurs abandon their language, customs, cultural beliefs, and particular worldview for a single, monochromatic reality. Should the dominating model for success that is perpetuated by the developed and developing nations be the only option for the Uyghurs? What will the world lose? According to the Xinjiang Communist Youth League, “Education will guide everyone to understand what is right and what is wrong,” but what entity has the omniscient knowledge or authority to unequivocally determine what is right?
Cultural diversity in our world is like “imagination” in a growing child. Without it, we, and the child, would never have had the opportunity to discover and learn the vast diverse knowledge that we have archived in our collective bank of consciousness.
Nor the freedom or confidence to explore the new vistas that unfold within the unknown realms we have yet to discover.
In this series, I hope to show that the Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang are not mentally ill, do not have the infectious virus of Islamic radicalism, and are not defying the communist party by expressing their cultural attributes.
Doctor Ghopor is a shaman who practices his medicine in Kashgar. He is originally from Kazakhstan and can speak both Uyghur and Kazakh. He is a healthy, vibrant 95-year-old who boasts of having had ten wives. He lives with his current wife, who is in her 40s, and their 5-year-old daughter.
Right: Livestock Profit
The Uyghurs travel many hours to trade at the Sunday market, but some days yield greater profits than others and greater satisfaction.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
The ethnic Uighurs are one of the largest groups of vanishing cultures left in the world. Can the world afford to lose this heritage? Does a single government or country that borders this ethnic group have the right to determine its future?
It is extremely important to show the world now that the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang are not mentally ill, do not have the infectious virus of Islamic radicalism, and are not defying the communist party by expressing their cultural attributes.
The Chinese government’s rhetoric of nationalism and xenophobia is not just an issue for China but also for every nation in the world, as well as other vanishing ethnic groups who are fighting to keep their culture and way of life.
In-depth documentary photography on the front line of this historical abuse of human rights is imperative if we are going to protect and preserve cultural diversity in our modern world.
Doctor Ghopor Kazakh, 95 years old, is one of the last shamans actively practicing in the Kashgar Oasis. He receives many visitors from Kashgar and the outlying districts who seek his traditional medicinal treatments and spiritual guidance.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
MICK STETSON
Mick Stetson is a photojournalist and freelance photographer who specializes in documenting cultures and people from remote regions within Asia as well as other social issues concerning the disadvantaged or disenfranchised members of modern society.
Uyghur men are extremely fond of hats and equally fussy about their quality. Customers examine many different hats before finally selecting the right one.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
Regarding cultures, Mick focuses mainly on diminishing cultures and cultures that are transitioning or transforming due to the encroachment of modernity. He is especially interested in the effects of globalization on the traditional lifestyles of various ethnic groups and how it affects their individual and cultural freedom.
Along the fabled Silk Road, Kuchean music and dance were known. Today, Kuchean melodies and rhythm have blended with modern ones, but dancers still express these ancient traditions even in contemporary contexts.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
Regarding social issues, Mick strives to give marginalized members of society a voice, which is usually silenced.
He works with these members over long periods to gain the access and trust necessary to produce intimate, emotionally charged photographs that take the viewer viscerally into these people’s worlds.
Although there are few discos in Kashgar, they are lively and crowded, offering a unique mix of traditional and modern music.
Mick Stetson © All rights reserved.
