Thai rights commission urges a third country for five Uyghur men, regional party publishes its answer to Beijing’s inspectors, Ma Xingrui charged with bribery
Közet’s daily roundup of news on Uyghurs, their homeland, and the world around them. Friday, November 6, 2026.
TOP LINE
Thailand’s rights commission asks the prime minister to send five Uyghur men to a willing third country. The National Human Rights Commission’s chair, Pornprapai Kanjanarin, sent a “most urgent” letter, No. Sor Mor 0700/43, to the prime minister on November 4 recommending that the government quickly send the five men to a third country that has expressed willingness to take them, for resettlement or other protection, commissioner Wasan Paileeklee said at the commission’s weekly briefing Thursday. The letter cites Section 13 of Thailand’s 2022 anti-torture and enforced disappearance act and says the government “must not send the five Uyghurs back to the People’s Republic of China,” directly or through a third country, because there is reason to believe they would face torture or disappearance, with no exception for security or foreign relations; it adds that any consent to travel must be “genuinely voluntary.” The commission says two of the men were released from prison under a royal pardon and have been held at the Immigration Bureau’s detention center since October 21 pending removal, and that both have said they do not want to return to China; three are still serving sentences. Közet reported Thursday that Thailand’s security chief said China has submitted an extradition request and holds arrest warrants for all five. (National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, November 5; Közet, November 5)
HOMELAND
Prosecutors charge former regional party chief Ma Xingrui with bribery. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate ordered the arrest of Ma Xingrui, the Communist Party’s Xinjiang secretary from December 2021 until his removal in 2025, and prosecutors in Yichang, Hubei, filed a bribery charge with the city’s intermediate court, Xinhua, the state news agency, reported Thursday. The charge alleges he used four posts to take “especially huge” bribes: deputy general manager and then general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., Shenzhen party secretary, Guangdong governor and Politburo member. The Xinjiang post is not among the four listed, and no trial date was given. (Xinhua, November 5)
Regional party committee calls plenum for Friday and orders media to raise “positive publicity.” The regional party standing committee, chaired by party secretary Chen Xiaojiang, decided Thursday to convene the second plenum of the 11th regional party committee on November 6 to carry out the decisions of the Central Committee’s fifth plenum, Xinjiang Daily, the regional party committee’s newspaper, reported on its front page Friday. The same meeting took up Beijing’s directive on “systemic reform of mainstream media” and told the region’s outlets to “comprehensively raise the quality of mainstream media’s positive publicity” and to “vividly display” what it called the region’s stability, “ethnic unity and harmony” and improving livelihoods. The communiqué of the plenum had not been published when this edition closed. (Xinjiang Daily, November 6, A01)
Party committee publishes its response to Beijing’s 2025 inspection: Mandarin, “de-extremification,” religion. The regional party committee published Thursday its report on rectifying problems raised by the Central Committee’s first inspection team, which inspected the region from July 18 to September 27, 2025, and delivered its findings on November 29. The report, which Közet has read, says the committee has “solidly advanced the legalization and normalization of counter-terrorism and stability maintenance” and “deepened de-extremification,” is “consolidating and expanding” the spread of what it calls the “national common spoken and written language,” has set up a center for “integrated ideological and political education” from primary school through university, with provincial-level officials teaching such classes, and is “adhering to the direction of Sinicizing religion.” It lists “religious affairs governance” and the Sinicization of religion among matters needing “long-term rectification.” The inspectors’ findings themselves are not published; the report invites public comment through November 25. (Xinjiang Daily, November 6, A01)
Regional government adopts air-pollution plan for northern Tengri Tagh cities and a mineral-resources bill. The regional government’s executive meeting, chaired by regional chairman Erkin Tuniyaz on Thursday, approved a 2026 to 2027 “intensified action plan” on air quality for the northern slope of the Tengri Tagh (Tianshan) urban cluster, centered on Urumqi, Sanji (Changji) and Shihezi, with coal controls, cleaner energy and source reduction, and a revised emergency plan for heavy pollution, Xinjiang Daily reported. It also adopted a revised draft of the regional mineral resources regulation and a draft regulation on after-school child care, and a package on social insurance enrollment. The texts were not published with the report. (Xinjiang Daily, November 6, A01)
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake in Hotan prefecture. A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck Hekang (和康) county, Hotan (Hetian) prefecture, at 12:56 a.m. Friday at a depth of 60 kilometers, the China Earthquake Networks Center said in a bulletin posted by the Xinjiang Seismological Bureau, which placed it at 35.64°N, 78.14°E, about 109 kilometers from Hotan county seat. Transport, power and communications were operating normally, CCTV, the state broadcaster, reported. (Xinjiang Seismological Bureau, November 6; CCTV via Beijing News, November 6)
DIASPORA
World Uyghur Congress welcomes Catalan resolution, urges European refugee and family reunification protections. The World Uyghur Congress, an advocacy group, said in a release dated November 2 that the Parliament of Catalonia on October 29 adopted a resolution condemning what it calls “systematic persecution” of Uyghurs, calling on EU member states and the European Commission to take diplomatic action, urging Catalan companies to keep their supply chains free of what the group calls forced labour in the region and promising support for Uyghurs fleeing persecution. “We urge governments across Europe to follow Catalonia’s example,” WUC president Turgunjan Alawdun said. The group asked European governments to designate the region a high-risk area for forced labour and to “review and strengthen their refugee and family reunification policies.” Közet reported Tuesday that the parliament’s EU and Foreign Action Committee approved the motion and that China’s embassy in Spain called it “flagrant interference.” (World Uyghur Congress, November 3; Közet, November 3)
INTERNATIONAL
Regional party official tells foreign students to relay what they saw to families back home. Qeyser Abdukerim, a member of the regional party standing committee, told a forum of more than 80 young people, including delegates from 12 countries among them Russia, Kazakhstan and Pakistan, that the region “has been an inseparable part of China’s territory since ancient times,” and urged them to “actively share with relatives and friends at home what you saw and heard in Xinjiang,” Xinjiang Daily reported. The November 5 session at the China (Xinjiang) International Youth Exchange Institute closed a five-day program co-hosted by the regional Youth Federation and the Qaramay (Karamay) campus of China University of Petroleum (Beijing), which said 44 of its international students attended the November 2 opening in Qaramay and would visit the regional museum, the Xinjiang Software Park and enterprises in Qaramay and Urumqi. (Xinjiang Daily via China Xinjiang, a website of the regional party committee’s propaganda department, November 6; China University of Petroleum (Beijing) Karamay campus, November 5)
MEDIA WATCH
Press tour presents cotton land consolidation in Awat as “one family” across the canal. A front-page feature in Xinjiang Daily on Friday, from the Central Propaganda Department’s “Forging a Shared Community, One Chinese Family” reporting tour, pairs a bridge built in May 2024 across the southern main canal between Yéngimehelle (Yingmaili) village in Dolan township, Awat (Awati) county, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) 1st Division’s 16th Regiment with the story of a Sichuan-born XPCC employee who in 2020 set up a cooperative that took over 8,500 mu, or 567 hectares, of the village’s farmland. The paper reports cotton yields rising from 300 to 400 kilograms per mu, “more than 10,000 yuan” in added annual income for 200-plus workers and 250,000 yuan for the village collective, and quotes a Uyghur farmer’s income and the regiment company’s party branch secretary, Yang Xing’an, calling the bridge “a symbol of economic cooperation and friendship.” The feature does not say what rent or share the cooperative pays households for their land or whether any declined to join. (Xinjiang Daily via China Xinjiang, November 6)
ON THE RADAR
November 6, Urumqi: Second plenum of the 11th regional party committee; communiqué expected. (Xinjiang Daily, November 6)
November 6 to 8, Urumqi: The 20th Xinjiang Winter Tourism Trade Expo at the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center. (Xinjiang Release on Weibo, October 31)
November 9, Geneva, 2:30 to 6 p.m.: Thailand’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council. (UPR Working Group 53rd session timetable)
November 12, Berlin, 4 to 6 p.m.: World Uyghur Congress roundtable on transnational repression at the Taipei Representative Office. (Berlin Freedom Week; Coalition Against Transnational Repression in Germany, October 27)
November 16, Lop (Luopu), 11 a.m. Beijing time: Bids close on the county education bureau’s 1,161,000 yuan tender to build what the notice calls “Runxin (Ayjamal)” workshops at nine middle schools and support their operation at 13 schools, including Hotan Mining Technician College; the notice does not state the workshops’ purpose. (Hotan public resources trading network, November 5)
November 24, Yarkent (Shache), 11 a.m. Beijing time: Bids close on the county party propaganda department’s 3.61 million yuan tender for “new era civilization practice” station equipment. (China Government Procurement Network, October 31)
November 25: Public comment period closes on the regional party committee’s inspection rectification report. (Xinjiang Daily, November 6)
December 9 to 13, Altay (Aletai): The 2026 Xinjiang “Hot Snow Festival.” (Xinjiang Release on Weibo, October 31)
Radar is compiled by Közet’s editors from Közet’s own reporting, public documents and other outlets’ work, attributed in each item. Where Közet has read the underlying record, the item says so; where it could not verify a claim, the item says that too. Statements by governments, companies and advocacy groups are reported as statements, not facts. Uyghur place names appear first, with the official Chinese name in parentheses. Published weekdays at 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern. Editorial standards and corrections: kozet.org/editorial-standards.
Sources
NHRC weekly briefing No. 37/2569, item 3 (National Human Rights Commission of Thailand, November 5) https://www.nhrc.or.th/th/south/nhrc-southern-region-news/18907
Radar, Nov. 5 (Közet, November 5) https://kozet.org/radar-2026-11-05/
Prosecutors file bribery charges against Ma Xingrui (Xinhua, November 5) https://www.news.cn/20261105/71f77f728ca44330b92c195159495f69/c.html
Standing committee decides to convene the second plenum of the 11th regional party committee (Xinjiang Daily, November 6, A01) https://xjrb.ts.cn/xjrb/20261106/264907.html
Regional party committee report on rectification following the 20th Central Committee’s inspection (Xinjiang Daily, November 6, A01) https://xjrb.ts.cn/xjrb/20261106/264909.html
Regional government executive meeting on northern Tengri Tagh air pollution (Xinjiang Daily, November 6, A01) https://xjrb.ts.cn/xjrb/20261106/264913.html
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake in Hekang county, Hotan prefecture (Xinjiang Seismological Bureau, November 6) https://www.xjdzj.gov.cn/quakeproof/20261106/1303165899691261952.html
Hekang county 4.8 earthquake: transport, power and communications normal (CCTV via Beijing News, November 6) https://www.bjnews.com.cn/detail/1793920546129165.html
WUC welcomes Catalonia Parliament’s resolution (World Uyghur Congress, November 3) https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/press-release-wuc-welcomes-catalonia-parliaments-resolution-condemning-chinas-systematic-persecution-of-uyghurs/
Radar, Nov. 3 (Közet, November 3) https://kozet.org/radar-2026-11-03/
“Youth Dialogue at the Foot of Tengri Tagh” forum held (Xinjiang Daily via China Xinjiang, November 6) https://www.chinaxinjiang.cn/2026/11/06/55244b7cb28946788cdc34a7932a8700.html
Youth exchange program opens (China University of Petroleum (Beijing) Karamay campus, November 5) https://www.cupk.edu.cn/c/2026-11-05/539614.shtml
The bridge opened, hearts drew closer (Xinjiang Daily via China Xinjiang, November 6) https://www.chinaxinjiang.cn/2026/11/06/3da7ab0e16d74b10a30232b8fe9ac07b.html
2026 “Forging a Shared Community” publicity campaign launches in Xinjiang (Xinhua, November 1) https://www1.xinhuanet.com/politics/20261101/301d62e1e8004111b1d5e58ff8d93d35/c.html
Xinjiang to issue 13.27 million yuan in tourism vouchers (Xinjiang Release on Weibo, October 31) https://weibo.com/2/detail/5360059752383658
UPR Working Group 53rd session timetable (UPR Info) https://upr-info.org/sites/default/files/general-document/2025-12/timetable_upr_53.pdf
Uyghur Rights Beyond China’s Borders (Berlin Freedom Week, November 12 program) https://berlin-freedom-week.com/en/event/uyghur-rights-beyond-chinas-borders-transnational-repression-shadow-ethnic-unity-law
WUC roundtable announcement (Coalition Against Transnational Repression in Germany, October 27) https://stop-transnational-repression.de/2026/10/27/the-world-uyghur-congress-a-member-of-the-coalition-against-transnational-repression-in-germany-will-host-in-cooperation-with-partner-organizations-a-roundtable-discussion-entitled-uyghur/
2026 Lop county middle and high school “Runxin (Ayjamal)” workshop project, competitive consultation notice (Hotan public resources trading network, November 5) https://ggzy.ht.gov.cn/jyxx/001004/001004001/20261105/624e4617-2555-4d5a-8845-a3864d0ef8a9.html
Yarkent cultural project equipment tender notice (China Government Procurement Network, October 31) https://www.ccgp.gov.cn/cggg/dfgg/gkzb/202610/t20261031_27598034.htm
