China is erasing Uyghur culture by changing village names, rights group says

FILE - A car drives through a desert where a signboard which reads "Welcome to the Hotan Unity New Village" is seen on display in Hotan, in western China's Xinjiang region on Sept. 21, 2018. FILE - Uyghur children play at a square where a poster showing Han Chinese and Uyghurs posing together in a photograph with the words "Hotan City Unity New Village Unity Square" on display, at the Unity New Village in Hotan in western China's Xinjiang region on Sept. 20, 2018.

A new report finds that the Chinese government has been systematically changing village names with cultural or religious significance to the Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang autonomous region to Chinese names showcasing Chinese Communist Party ideologies.