China Uses Uyghur Region as Digital Power Hub Ahead of SCO Forum

On September 14, Beijing officials met in Urumqi for a closed‑door session that preceded the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Digital Economy Forum. The meeting, framed as a technical exercise on digital infrastructure, industrial transformation, AI, data governance and the economic value of data, aimed to position the Uyghur region as a land‑based gateway for China’s digital expansion into Central Asia and the wider Eurasian market. The discussion produced a 2026 SCO Digital Economy Ministerial Statement and a list of nearly 20 cooperation intentions covering sectors such as cloud computing, 5G, data centers and digital identity. Beijing’s strategy repackages the region’s traditional energy resources—oil, gas, coal and electricity—as the foundation for large‑scale AI computing clusters. While the government touts modernization, Uyghurs face economic, political, social and physical costs: loss of land‑based livelihoods, increased industrial pollution, state‑directed labor transfers and intensified digital surveillance. The forum’s public language omitted the region’s history of mass surveillance and human‑rights violations, instead promoting a narrative of innovation and prosperity.