Press Release
For Immediate Release
April 14, 2026
Contact@Uyghurstudy.org
The Center for Uyghur Studies (CUS) is pleased to announce the publication of the Malay language edition of “Menace: China’s Colonization of the Islamic World and Uyghur Genocide”, titled “Bahaya dari Timur: Penjajahan China ke atas Dunia Islam dan Genosid Uyghur”, authored by CUS Executive Director Abdulhakim Idris and published in 2021. This important milestone reflects our continued commitment to expanding access to critical knowledge on the Uyghurs and China’s broader policies toward the Muslim majority countries.
In “Menace: China’s Colonization of the Islamic World and Uyghur Genocide,”, Abdulhakim Idris meticulously deconstructs these geopolitical dynamics. He provides an exhaustive historical context of East Turkistan and chronicles the Uyghur people’s heroic struggle to preserve their faith and existence against the CCP’s totalizing control. Idris highlights the profound contributions of the Uyghurs to Islamic civilization, contrasting this rich heritage with the tragic reality of a people betrayed by their own brothers for short-term economic gains.
Following its success in Turkish, English, Arabic, and Bahasa Indonesia, this essential text is now available to the Malay-speaking world, serving as both a scholarly resource and a moral clarion call.
In East Turkistan (AKA Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), the systematic genocide of the Muslim Uyghur population proceeds with relentless and calculated ferocity. These crimes against humanity, orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), are frequently met with a harrowing indifference from the global community. Most distressingly, many Muslim-majority nations – entangled in Beijing’s arm of economic and diplomatic coercion – have remained silent as the religious liberties and cultural heritage of their co-religionists are annihilated. This silence is particularly resonant in pivotal Muslim communities.
The primary catalyst for the silence of the Muslim world lies in its increasing subservience to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the CCP’s primary instrument for global economic hegemony. Beijing has strategically positioned itself as the preeminent financier of critical infrastructure, transportation, and telecommunications from the Pacific to Latin America. In 2025, global BRI engagement reached approximately $213 billion, with many projects located in regions such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa, which include a large number of Muslim-majority countries.. This massive influx of capital functions as a form of “debt-trap diplomacy” – vividly illustrated by the economic crises in Sri Lanka – forcing recipient states into a state of geopolitical vassalage. Consequently, these nations are often compelled to disregard the Uyghur Genocide as a prerequisite for continued financial support. This economic entanglement is further compounded by the widespread use of Uyghur forced labor within supply chains linked to Chinese industries, implicating partner states in a system of exploitation they are increasingly unwilling to confront.
Beijing has successfully weaponized its diplomatic influence to neutralize the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), effectively transforming it into a conduit for Chinese propaganda. High-level engagements with OIC officials have allowed the CCP to peddle the false narrative that its draconian policies in the Uyghur homeland are so-called extremism measures. Nations like Pakistan, and Iran – deeply dependent on Chinese investment – have consistently aligned with Beijing within the United Nations. A striking example occurred in 2022, when a group of Muslim-majority states actively blocked the discussion of a landmark report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which provided credible evidence of crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region. While these governments are quick to condemn Islamophobia in the West, they remain mute regarding the state-sponsored demolition of over 16,000 mosques in the Uyghur region.
The CCP’s influence extends beyond economics into the internal security and media landscapes of Muslim nations. Press outlets under Beijing’s sway often prioritize CCP-curated propaganda over factual reporting on the atrocities in East Turkistan. Furthermore, local governments have increasingly suppressed Uyghur advocacy. In 2024, activities conducted by the Center for Uyghur Studies in Indonesia were subjected to intrusive police surveillance; efforts were made to block the publication of Abdulhakim Idris’s book in the Indonesian language, and travel restrictions were attempted against organization representatives. This pattern of transnational repression is expected to intensify in countries like Malaysia, as China views Southeast Asia as its strategic “backyard.” Since 2001, approximately 300 Uyghurs have been forcibly repatriated from Muslim-majority countries back to China, handing them over to a regime that views their ethnic and religious identity as an existential threat.
This latest Malay edition of “Menace” marks a significant step in making the book accessible to audiences in Malaysia. By presenting this work in Bahasa Melayu, CUS aims to equip students, scholars, policymakers, and civil society actors in Malaysia with deeper insight into the ideological, political, and human rights dimensions of China’s genocide, religious persecution, human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims and its colonial ambitions against Muslim-majority countries.
This publication builds on CUS’s ongoing efforts to produce and translate high-quality research into multiple languages. Through such initiatives, CUS seeks to foster informed dialogue, strengthen global awareness, and support principled advocacy for the Uyghur people.
The book is available to read and download here on our Malay website my.uyghurstudy.org
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