The Mask of Uyghur Women's Choice

"That’s why the women in Xinjiang you see now are boldly showing their beauty in public..."

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May 07, 2025

This image shows videos of Uyghur women on Chinese social media reading the exact same script verbatim.

In recent weeks, a conspicuous trend has emerged on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. Numerous videos feature young Uyghur women reading off of the same script. They are said again and again, word for word. They are discussing why Uyghur women no longer wear the hijab.

While these videos appear to offer personal testimonials of freedom and modernity, the scripts behind them reveal a carefully orchestrated propaganda effort by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The narrative presented attempts to frame the abandonment of the hijab as a voluntary choice resulting from political “enlightenment,” all while masking the reality of coercion and religious persecution Uyghur women face in Chinese-controlled East Turkistan.

I have attached a screen recording of several such videos.

The script reads:

“Most women in Middle Eastern Countries may not change the fate of wearing headscarves in their lifetime, when I was young, Uyghurs used to wear headscarves, and you had to wear pants under the skirt, since 2016, Xinjiang regularly holds ethnic unity and family pair up activities, Millions of Communist Party members took part in the pair up and become family program. They went door to door to explain the law. That’s why the women in Xinjiang you see now are boldly showing their beauty in public. They can also choose the lifestyle they want. What you choose is called belief. What you are born with is called bondage.”
A script of hundreds of videos repeated on Chinese social media

At face value, this statement suggests a narrative of progress, freedom, and choice—portraying the removal of the hijab as a liberating rejection of oppressive tradition. However, when analyzed in context, it exposes a troubling reality of state-imposed assimilation and religious suppression.

The "Pair Up and Become Family" Program: A Tool for Forced Assimilation

The government campaign referenced—the “Pair Up and Become Family” program—began in 2016 amid the intensifying crackdown on Uyghurs in occupied East Turkistan. This policy mandates that millions of Han Chinese Communist Party members and government officials embed themselves into Uyghur households. Presented publicly as an initiative to foster ethnic unity and cultural integration, the program in reality functions as continuous surveillance, political indoctrination, and cultural erasure.

The mention in the videos of officials “going door to door to explain the law” is troublingly euphemistic. These visits constitute enforced political re-education sessions designed to coerce Uyghurs into abandoning Islamic customs and embracing CCP ideology. The traditional hijab, a visible symbol of Uyghur Muslim identity, has become a focal point of this coercion. Women are pressured—often under threat—to publicly unveil, an act framed by state-controlled media as a courageous embrace of “modernity” and “personal choice.”

The Illusion of Religious Freedom and Choice

The quote from the videos—“They can also choose the lifestyle they want. What you choose is called belief. What you are born with is called bondage”—is a striking example of political indoctrination. It insinuates that innate religious beliefs amount to slavery under a foreign, so-called “Middle Eastern” system, while implying CCP-promoted secularism is true freedom.

Yet, the reality is the opposite. There exists no genuine religious freedom in East Turkistan. The Chinese government systematically criminalizes Islamic practices including prayer, fasting during Ramadan, wearing religious attire, and attending religious gatherings. Uyghurs who resist these policies and choose to observe their faith openly face severe consequences: arbitrary detention, forced labor, and imprisonment in so-called “re-education camps” initiated in 2016.

Contrary to the videos’ claim of voluntary choice, refusal to conform equates to persecution. Uyghurs who continue practicing Islam, whether openly or secretly, live under constant threat. Moreover, those who attempt to use social media—especially state-controlled platforms like Douyin—to share positive views of Islam or to promote religious practices face censorship, accusation of “extremism,” or forced “medical interventions.” Being labeled as mentally unsound or “extremist” often leads to someone’s disappearance into the re-education camps.

The Hypocrisy of China’s Domestic and International Stance on Islam

China’s treatment of Uyghurs starkly contrasts with its diplomatic efforts to cultivate ties with Muslim-majority countries. Politically and economically, Beijing seeks to strengthen bonds with nations across the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa, often emphasizing shared interests and mutual respect for religion.

For example,

China has invested heavily in infrastructure projects in Muslim-majority countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), portraying itself as a friendly partner to the Muslim world.
Chinese officials regularly attend Islamic summits and engage in state visits that include overtures of respect toward Islam and Muslim cultures.
In some Muslim-majority international forums, China promotes itself as a defender of peace and religious harmony.

Yet, these well-publicized international gestures coexist with an official domestic campaign of Islamophobia targeting Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. Chinese state media, educational materials, and social media platforms routinely depict Islam as backward, extremist, or a foreign threat disrupting social harmony. Uyghurs are characterized in government rhetoric as terrorists or “anti-China separatists” under the guise of national security, justifying harsh measures that suppress their religious and cultural identity.

This dual approach highlights a profound hypocrisy: China projects an image of respect for Islam on the world stage, even as it perpetrates systematic religious repression at home.

Beyond Propaganda—The Struggle for Uyghur Identity

The scripted Douyin videos featuring Uyghur women abandoning the hijab under “enlightenment” campaigns are a part of a larger CCP effort to rewrite the narrative surrounding Chinese-occupied East Turkistan. By presenting forced assimilation as voluntary progress, the Chinese government attempts to legitimize its erasure of Uyghur religious and cultural identity.

But the Uyghurs’ lived reality tells a different story—one of coercion, surveillance, and a denial of basic freedoms. The “choice” to remove the hijab is often neither free nor genuine; it is the result of political pressure and the threat of severe consequences.

For the global community, it is imperative to look beyond these glossy state-sanctioned narratives and recognize the ongoing human rights abuses in East Turkistan. Until genuine religious freedom and cultural autonomy are ensured, the “choice” to remove the hijab remains an illusion manufactured by an authoritarian regime determined to erase the Uyghur people’s heritage.

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