Analysts warn little progress has been made in investigating the "serious human rights violations" reported against the Uighur minority a year ago, as China's leadership is trying to reframe the narrative on its policies in the Xinjiang region.
In 2022, a report from the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) concluded that the Chinese government's discriminatory detention of Uighurs in Xinjiang — an autonomous region in northwestern China — may constitute "crimes against humanity."
Beijing promptly dismissed the accusation, labelling it "disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces." A UN formal agenda for discussing the issue fell through as China and its allies voted against it.
A rare visit to Xinjiang by Chinese President Xi Jinping has once again raised concerns among activist groups and human rights organizations.
They believe that the government is now preparing to "reaffirm the policy direction" with a more positive narrative about Xinjiang.
Beijing tightens its grip on Xinjiang
In August, Xi visited Xinjiang after returning to China from the BRICS summit in South Africa, without first stopping in the capital Beijing.
"You can see how much the Uighur population occupied his mind," Aziz Isa Elkun, an exiled Uighur poet and research assistant at SOAS, University of London, told DW.
This was Xi's second visit to the region since a massive crackdown began a decade ago. The first time was in July 2022, a month before the OHCHR report was released.
China's recent focus on Xinjiang, as Elkun claimed, is due to the region's crucial role in "the main conflicts with the West over the rule of law, democracy and human rights."
Since Xi came to power in 2013, Xinjiang has become a heavily militarized zone with increased high-tech security and widespread digital surveillance. Over one million Uighurs have reportedly been detained in so-called "reeducation camps."
While China justified those camps as "vocational education and training centres" used to combat extremism and terrorism, critics argued they represent an attempted genocide to erase the Uighur identity.
"Uighur Muslims are sent to detention centres for … 'wearing a veil', growing 'a long beard', or violating the government's family planning policy," Ayjaz Wani, a fellow at the Strategic Studies Program at ORF, told DW.
Guided tours expected to surge
Amid growing global attention on Xinjiang, China has been eager to portray the region as a "success story" by welcoming more tourists.
During a speech in Xinjiang last month, Xi noted that the region was "no longer a remote area" and should open up more to domestic and foreign tourism.
"Beijing's strategy has been to manage perception through guided tours in Xinjiang," said Wani, emphasizing that the goal is to show the impression of "normalcy" in the region.
AFP news agency reported that Xinjiang's tourism bureau planned to spend over around €89.3 million this year, with luxury hotels and campsites to be built across the area.
The Uighur Human Rights Project recently called on Western tourist companies to cease offering tour packages through Xinjiang.
Despite this, Wani expected there to be "an increase in guided tours," notably from Islamic and European countries, and the diplomats on these tours will commend Beijing's efforts in combating terrorism, "even though this may not be the case," he said.
Is China getting away from accountability?
Human rights groups are calling for more action from global society as the UN report has been released for a year.
"We're hoping that other governments and the UN will take follow-up measures now," Maya Wang, an associate director in the Asia division at Human Rights Watch, told DW.
With events like Russia's war in Ukraine diverting global attention, advocates face challenges in maintaining pressure on the government's oppression of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Limited access to the region has also added to the difficulties. "The Chinese government are experts in information control," Wang said, highlighting that HRW and the UN are both not allowed to freely access the region to do fact-finding work.
Amid the lack of collective pressure from other governments, the chances are that China believes "it could get away with the most severe international crimes without consequences."
Although the scale of the camps has been reduced in recent years, none of the policies underlying the widespread suppression have been reversed or lifted, Wang said.
"For the Uighurs who live there, life has always been at the brunt of the repression," she noted.
In the meantime, the Uighur diaspora also continually face the risk of harassment or threats from the Chinese government when they speak out.
As a Uighur academic in exile, Elkun's contact with his family living in Xinjiang was cut off by Beijing in 2017, in an apparent attempt to silence him.
"I feel very bitter each time I think about them," he said, referring to the family members whose situation has remained unknown ever since.
Despite his own struggles, Elkun emphasised that some Uighurs have suffered even worse fates. "We will bring justice for the victims … The world will never forget," he said.
Yuchen Li is a Taiwan-based Journalist who works at Deutsche Welle.
