Uyghurs, an ethnic minority in China who are predominantly Muslims, are inhabitants of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region (XAR) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Comprising a population of roughly 10.5 million presently (45 per cent of the region’s population), Uyghurs for centuries have lived in what is known presently as Xinjiang in China. Following brief independence (known as East Turkestan) during the 1940s, Xinjiang came under the control of the PRC in 1949 and Uyghurs were designated as one of the officially recognised ethnic minorities by the PRC in 1954 and the following year the XAR was established with…