When the Beijing Winter Olympics open on February 4, diplomats from a number of countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, will not be there to watch. Their diplomatic boycott hinges on concerns about human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. We talk to three experts about China’s long-term vision for Xinjiang, and what its strategy there means for the region’s persecuted Uyghurs. 

Featuring Darren Byler, assistant professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University in Canada; David Tobin, lecturer in east Asian Studies at the University of Sheffield in the UK; and Anna Hayes, senior lecturer in politics and international relations at James Cook University in Australia.

And what toxic heavy metals are lingering in houses around the world? Cynthia Faye Isley, postdoctoral research fellow in environmental science at Macquarie University in Australia, explains what she's found analysing vacuum cleaner dust from around the world.

Plus, Matt Williams, breaking news editor at The Conversation in New York, recommends his picks of recent analysis on the build-up of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here. A transcript is available here.

Further reading:

• How an independent tribunal came to rule that China is guilty of genocide against the Uyghurs
• Can China win back global opinion before the Winter Olympics? Does it even want to?
• House dust from 35 countries reveals our global toxic contaminant exposure and health risk
• It’s just a ‘panic attack’ – Russian media blames US for escalating Ukraine crisis
• The US military presence in Europe has been declining for 30 years – the current crisis in Ukraine may reverse that trend