“In recent years, particularly amid heightened energy security concerns, China has poured enormous resources into developing the coal gasification industry in the Uyghur region, especially because of the region’s abundant coal reserves,” said Peter Irwin, co-executive director at the nonprofit Network for Uyghur Rights.

Over the past several years, Xinjiang has seen a human rights crisis documented by journalists and researchers. Beyond suppression of religious, linguistic, and cultural identity, it includes a vast system of forced labor in detention camps and prisons. Irwin thinks it's no accident that China is choosing to put coal gasification here.

“Given that the industry itself is highly polluting, in a way you’re shifting environmental costs directly onto Uyghur and other communities in the region, while the rest of the country benefits,” said Irwin.