World news is hard to watch. It’s full of horror and tragedy, much of which is happening thousands and thousands of miles away. While these stories are difficult to consume, they can be easy to ignore as we imagine ourselves untouched by their devastation. But on this episode of The Russell Moore Show, human rights attorney Nury Turkel encourages Christians to understand the ways that they are, in fact, affected by issues like foreign policy and human rights violations across the ocean.

Turkel, whose new memoir is titled No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs, serves on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom. Born in a Chinese reeducation camp in the fall of 1970, Turkel is an expert on the plight of the Uyghur people who continue to face tremendous oppression from the Chinese Communist Party, as well as the influence of China on the United States.

On this episode, Turkel explains the factors at play in the modern-day genocide of the Uyghur people. He and Moore discuss the ways that America interacts with China, Chinese governmental resistance to Western ideology and religion, and the exploitation of the Uyghur people for products Americans consume. They discuss technology, artificial intelligence, and TikTok developments with serious ethical and mental health implications. And they share urgent, concrete opportunities to stand up against human rights abuses.

Resources mentioned in this episode include: 

No Escape: The True Story of China’s Genocide of the Uyghurs by Nury Turkel

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

“Chinese government is ‘at war with faith,’ says U.S. envoy” by Lauren Monsen

“13-ton shipment of human hair, likely from Chinese prisoners, seized” by Allison Gordon

“The Uyghurs Forced to Process the World’s Fish” by Ian Urbina

“US accuses China of developing ‘brain control weaponry’” by Demetri Sevastopulo and Miles Kruppa

“Wall Street Journal recently, an American billionaire who invested in ByteDance have been lobbying to silence our lawmakers from doing the right thing.” By John D. McKinnon and Stu Woo

Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World Hardcover by Bethany Allen

“In China’s Crackdown on Muslims, Children Have Not Been Spared” by Amy Qin

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“The Russell Moore Show” is a production of Christianity Today

Executive Producers: Erik Petrik, Russell Moore, and Mike Cosper

Host: Russell Moore

Producer: Ashley Hales

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Audio engineering by Dan Phelps

Video producer: Abby Egan

Theme Song: “Dusty Delta Day” by Lennon Hutton

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