After becoming the Communist Party of China's (CPC's) chief of Xinjiang province in 2016, Chen Quanguo oversaw a security crackdown that led to a sharp drop in births. Some observers accused China's leadership of committing genocide against the province's mostly Muslim Uighur population through forced sterilisation and abortion. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed the allegations as "fake news", arguing that Xinjiang's Uighur population had grown steadily to 12.7 million in 2018, an increase of 25% from 2010 -- and higher than the 14% increase in the province's total population.
But recently released 2020 census figures show that Xinjiang's Uighur population had grown by only 16% since 2010 during that decade to 11.6 million, compared to a 19% increase in Xinjiang's total population. Even more shocking, the Uighur population aged 0-4 was only 36% the size of that aged 5-9.
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