China changed the Uyghur language script several times
When the Communists came to power in China, Uyghurs used a modified Arabic script. The PRC—which, at the time, had a close relationship with the Soviet Union—changed the Uyghur script to Cyrillic, then changed it to the Latin alphabet after Sino-Soviet relations began to sour in 1958. The Latin alphabet was never popular among Uyghurs, so the PRC reinstated the modified Arabic script in 1980 (after Mao’s death).
These three major changes in the language provoked confusion, suspicion, and resentment among the Uyghur population. Uyghurs educated in the 1950s and 1960s knew a script no longer being taught to their own children, and some believed these switches were part of a deliberate effort to divide generations from each other.