In 1989, a young Uyghur named Örkesh Dölet was a student leader in the Tiananmen Square protests. Throughout the protests, Dölet represented students in televised negotiations with Chinese Communist Party leaders. After the massacre, the 21-year-old was put on China’s list of most wanted student leaders and so he fled the country. He now lives in exile in Taiwan. ‘For every important choices I make in my life, my Uyghur-ness has always came in and played an important role,’ he says. ‘That we do the right thing, not the safe thing.’
