The Uyghur people have a completely separate set of cultural, historical, religious, and value systems when compared to the Chinese. Even our territory and way of life are completely different from those of the Chinese.
When the Chinese government actually gave us so-called autonomy, the Chinese government promised to respect our human rights, our culture, our language, and our religion. But now, after China's rise, with it becoming this emerging superpower, our language is becoming completely useless right now in terms of education at all levels, because the Chinese government is forcing the Chinese language onto us.
In terms of religion, we believe in Islam. Basically, the Chinese government, after 9/11, immediately labelled us as terrorists. In fact, you see hardly anything that resembles terrorism among the Uyghurs.
As you all know, religion plays a big role in helping the people to keep their morality, in giving them true values. If you visit our homeland today, you will see beautiful mosques and you will even see people praying inside. That's what the Chinese government is basically showcasing, so that foreign delegation people will come and see that.