US-based Uygur journalist claims China targeting him by pressuring his family

Uygur journalist Shohret Hoshur left China 20 years ago, fearing for his safety after the authorities branded him a separatist for his critical coverage of the plight of his fellow ethnic Uygurs.

Now based in Washington, in the United States, he believes Chinese authorities have adopted another tactic to get him off the airwaves – pressuring his family.

The US State Department expressed deep concern yesterday over reports that three of Hoshur’s brothers in his native homeland had been imprisoned in retribution for his journalism.

The 49-year-old reporter said it followed years of threats by authorities in the restive region of Xinjiang in China’s far west, where his broadcasts in the Uygur language offer a rare alternative to state-run media.

There has been no coverage of their cases in Chinese media, but his relatives in Xinjiang have been told by police that one brother was sentenced to five years in jail at a mass trial in June, after being accused of endangering state security.

The other two brothers were detained in August, apparently for “leaking state secrets” after speaking by phone to Hoshur about the trial. They have not been seen by their family since.