Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism
| Strike Hard Against Violent Terrorism | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Xinjiang conflict | |
| Native name | 严厉打击暴力恐怖活动专项行动 |
| Location | Xinjiang Province, China |
| Date | Beginning 2014 23 May 2014 – Present |
| Target | Ethnic Uyghurs, "separatists", violent extremists |
Attack type | Political repression, mass arrests, incarcerations and extrajudicial detention/surveillance |
| Victims | 14,000 (Initial arrests) 1 million + (Forced detention) |
| Perpetrators | Chinese Communist Party, Ministry of Public Security |
| Motive | Stability maintenance, maintenance of Chinese Communist Party control over Xinjiang region, suppression of ethnic minority independence |
| Strike Hard Campaign Against Violent Terrorism | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 嚴厲打擊暴力恐怖活動專項行動 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 严厉打击暴力恐怖活动专项行动 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | Special action to crack down on violent terrorist activities | ||||||
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| Part of a series on |
| Uyghurs |
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Uyghurs outside of Xinjiang |
In May 2014, the Government of the People’s Republic of China launched the “Strike Hard Campaign against Violent Terrorism” (Chinese: 严厉打击暴力恐怖活动专项行动) in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Chinese officials describe the campaign as part of broader counterterrorism and “stability maintenance” efforts in the region. Human rights organizations and some scholars contend that authorities have used the global “war on terror” narrative to frame separatism and ethnic unrest as Islamist terrorism and to legitimize expansive security measures in Xinjiang.
Earlier “Strike Hard” (严打) crackdowns were mounted in Xinjiang during the 1990s, including a Xinjiang-specific campaign announced in 1996, as part of periodic nationwide anti-crime drives.