To be fair the US having black superstars and politicians doesn’t mean black people aren’t oppressed, Ukraine having a Jewish president doesn’t mean Nazis aren’t in power, and so on. Representation isn’t everything.
Although I wonder if Uyghurs you’re talking about rose to national stardom by promoting Uyghur culture and language. If so, that would be a good case. But if they’re like Xinjiang-born singers performing in Mandarin that probably doesn’t mean that much.
You raise a good point, to which I think the best response is to look at Dilraba - the most famous Uyghur actress at the moment. Here is the poster of her acting debut, which was nominated for the Chinese equivalent of an Emmy:
This is the plot synopsis:
“Anarhan” takes place in the late 1940s to early 1950s, during the liberation of Xinjiang. In a poor village in Kashgar, Xinjiang, Landlord Osman offers young Anarxan as a concubine to Commissioner Emin in an effort to please him. Anarxan, in love with the brave and handsome Qurban, refuses to marry Emin, and her family becomes brutally persecuted by Osman. At the same time, Emin joins forces with Inspector Masha to stop the Communist Party from marching into Xinjiang. Raxman, believing that the Communist Party can change their miserable lives, helps the People’s Liberation Army and tasked forces arrive to Xinjiang. The villagers engage in a series of struggles to fight the evil landlords that once oppressed them, and finally welcome a new life.
So at least in the case of the most famous Uyghur actress, her career was launched by a Uyghur role about Uyghur characters fighting evil landlords.
