Summary:
For centuries, there has been discrimination, detainment and acts of violence against the Uighur population within China. The Uighurs are ethnically Turkish Muslims, making up only about 1 percent of China's population. However, they are the largest ethnic group in the region of Xinjiang, where the main conflict occurs. Here, Uighurs are targeted by the Communist Party and sent to "re education camps" where more than a million Muslims are imprisoned and brainwashed. Here, they are forced to write "self criticism" essays, along with singing hymns celebrating the Chinese Communist party and listen to ideological lectures. Many survivors also recall stories about being subjected to torture, discipline and isolation. To the Chinese, the practice of Islam, or any religion other than Communism is seen as wrong, and therefore must be diminished. In addition to the indoctrination, they also prevent the Muslims from taking part in their religious practices, such as fasting and being halal (not consuming pork or alcohol).
While the cause of this situation is quite complex, many historians say that the social and economic factors causing ethnic tensions are the root cause of this current violence. With this way of thinking, it is difficult for China to see the Uighur population as anything but "the enemy".
Even though China's policy of "re education" has had a serious negative effect on the Uighur people and the Islam faith, the news of these destructive hate crimes have not received the attention that is needed. Although many human rights organizations have condemned the actions of China against the Muslim population, only few leaders have actually raised public concern regarding the issue.
When trying to form answers as to why this violation of human rights remains under publicized, there are a couple main reasons. For one, China is the top trading power in Organization of Islamic Cooperation, meaning it holds a lot of hope for these nations. Furthermore, China continues to offer financial aid to insure the silence from those suffering as well as only receiving compliments from outside countries in return for their "payments."
Recently, at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting on November 6, 2018, China was heavily criticized by western governments and the Muslim Uighur Community. The US chargé d'affaires Mark Cassarye also urged that China "abolish all forms of arbitrary detention" for Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, and demanded China to release the "possibly millions" of detained individuals there.
Reaction:
Sadly, the Uighur v Chinese conflict has gone past a harmless disagreement, and is beginning to truly ruin the livelihoods of so many innocent people. The idea that all this terrible punishment is based off of differences in religion is so upsetting and the violence is absolutely uncalled for. I feel that there are so many better ways to handle the differences in morals and beliefs, rather than strip people of their identities for it. There will always be differences in our societies and that is the way in which we learn to coexist. Instead, China has decided to handle it in a childish manner; by assigning blame and punishment rather than thinking ethically and rationally.
Connection to World History and/or International Relations:
The discrimination and "re education" systems for the Uighurs is incredibly similar to the Jewish Holocaust as well as Stalin's Gulags. During the Holocaust, the Jews were targeted solely off their religion, and endured terrible, inhumane conditions as forms of punishment. They were also blamed for Germany's suffering and famine crisis, just as the Ughirs have been blamed for a series of terrorist attacks in China. They were ostracized and forced to chant pro- Nazi slogans and songs, which is almost identical to the Uighurs who are ordered to sing Chinese hymns and work, deprived from the outside world. In addition, the gulags were implemented by Stalin as a way to prevent any opposition and ensure total devotion to the state, just as the Uighurs are attacked just because of their differing political beliefs.
Questions to Consider:
- Do you think China is doing the right thing by sending the Uighurs to "re education" camps?
- Why is the Uighur detainment crisis so under publicized?
- Do you think with enough public criticism of China's wrong doings, they will stop detaining the Uighurs in Xinjiang?
Although these “re-education” camps are often compared to gulags during Soviet Union era, I also think that it bears a striking similarity to the United States’ current relationship with the Muslim religion, and their perceived association with terrorists. As stated in the original article, this whole situation seemed to be centered around the Chinese authority’s fear of uprising from “extremists among the Uighurs,” and they have cited that a “handful of terrorists have already carried out attacks against the government.” Their solution? Punish the majority of innocent muslims for the actions of a few extremists who claim to be of their religion. This has been seen countless times in the US, and has been demonstrated through prejudiced acts against all muslims like the “travel ban,” or the scapegoating and fear mongering tactics used by political leaders.
ReplyDeleteSince the US and China seem to feel similarly about Muslims, it is surprising to hear that the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regarded the events in China as “awful abuses”- they would not dare take action against China though since, as stated in the article, many countries are financially benefiting from being friendly, and cannot afford to irritate China. In fact, “China is America’s largest creditor, and holds more than a trillion dollars in US treasury securities” (https://www.npr.org/2019/01/12/684687441/opinion-the-strange-silence-over-chinas-muslim-crackdown). Businesses in the US also rely on low-wage workers to manufacture their products. It is clear that no country is willing to sacrifice their financial well being to save the hundreds of thousands of muslims being held against their will, and it is sad that world leaders are knowingly putting money above moral.
^ Emily Feng
DeleteI think that it's horrible that the Uighurs are subjected to this kind of treatment but I'm also questioning as to how the Chinese can prevent the Uighurs from fasting and being halal. Do they just force feed them or something? I believe that this crisis is under publicized mainly because the Chinese are keeping this under their own control as to draw less negative attention to themselves. In my opinion, it's not likely that China will stop their actions due to foreign criticism. I think they would react more if some action were taken against them, like being cut off from trade. According to whoever wrote the above comment, China is helping a lot of countries though, so that particular alternative is most likely not going to happen. It is terrible that so many people are getting hurt and punished unfairly.
ReplyDelete*according to Emily Feng
DeleteRosella: Wow! You presented some really interesting ideas about the conflict that I had not even thought of. I agree with you that it is quite odd that China and the US act as if their actions and beliefs differ so greatly, when they treat "threats" (such as the terrorist acts blamed on the Muslims) so similarly. I really like the quotes that you pulled from my article, and when put next to all that is occurring in the US with Muslims, the striking similarities between the statements are quite concerning. I completely agree with your point and beliefs on the topic.
ReplyDelete^^(in response to Emily's comment)
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the reeducation camps are extremely inhumane and discriminating. By banning religious activities and taking the freedom of Uighurs away, China is following the footsteps of Stalin and Hitler. The reeducation camps are like gulags and concentration camps. People are forced to perform like communists and “love” the Chinese government. This is inhumane since some families are torn apart and religious rights are taken from Uighurs.
ReplyDeleteOne possible reason for the crisis to be so under publicized is due to the banning of foreign social platforms in China. Without access to international platforms, events occurring in China are sealed inside the country itself. If anyone dares to publicize anything about the Uighurs, they are immediately tracked and shut down by the government. When the topic is unavoidable, Chinese authorities choose to completely deny anything related to the unfair actions performed on Uighurs.
Unfortunately, I don’t think China would stop detaining the Uighurs in Xinjiang if public criticism increases. Just like what the Chinese government is doing now, they can continue to hide and deny the truth from the world. The only possibility for China to decrease the intensity is to present consequences of continuing the detaining action. For example, if a country threatens to end trading and foreign relations with China, it might cause the Chinese government to reconsider their actions.
I agree with all of the comments above me. The treatment of the Uighurs in China is simply inhumane and though some terrorists in China may happen to be Uighurs, this does no mean that their entire population must be punished. These are innocent people that are just trying to practice their religion and they should not be re-educated because it is essentially just brainwashing/scaring them so that they do not practice Islam. According to "The Guardian" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/25/at-least-120000-muslim-uighurs-held-in-chinese-re-education-camps-report, about 120,000 innocent Uighurs are being held in the re-education camps. One local even claimed that "People disappear inside that place." The Uighurs are being suppressed from their rights and forced to conform to Chinese Communism!
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening to the Uighur population in China is extremely astonishing yet completely unacceptable. It is also true that this topic has not received the attention it should have. Many people have no idea that this is even going on. However, that is for a reason. Chinese president Xi Jingping, along with the Chinese government, has made sure such information did not become international matters. They have increased censorship on information entering, leaving, and being shared throughout the country. Similarly to the article in Week 0 about the censorship of social media profiles, this supports how the Chinese government is drastically changing. No one should be punished for living their life with freedom, and China is taking away what makes human beings individual people, by tightening control and encouraging, even forcing, a loyal Communist society. - Nina Wade
ReplyDeleteI do not think that China is doing the right thing with “re-education” camps because they are changing a pre-existing belief when people don’t want to change. This makes no sense because there is no official law against anyone practicing a religion. In addition, the Uigur crisis is so under publicized is because the Chinese government is very good at hiding information they don’t want publicly announced. Personally, I don’t think China will stop because it is such a powerhouse in the world that they can bribe countries to not talk about it, so they won’t be heavily criticized in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is right for the Chinese to send Uighurs to "re-education" camps because it doesn't allow people to believe in their own religion. By suppressing this freedom of religion, the Chinese are only created a conflict that was completely unnecessary, which could later lead to violence. Furthermore, completely dehumanizing a group of people based on their religion is immoral and unethical. People deserve to believe in what they want because in the end, we are all human and deserve to have our own freedoms. Over the years, the Chinese government has been renowned for suppressing internal information and corruption from the rest of the world. An example of this is from Human Rights Watch.org, which states that China is "one of the strictest online censorship regimes in the world" (https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/china-and-tibet# ). This is just one of the many cases in which how China suppresses news from its citizens and the rest of the world. Due to the fact that China is so good at keeping its corruption secret, I do not believe public criticism will cause them to stop using "re-education" camps. The suppression causes there to be much lower amounts of public criticism than there would be without censorship, making the effect of public criticism on China minimal. Furthermore, China is a large and powerful country, and I do not believe other countries (such as the U.S. and U.K.) would want to risk building tensions between China in order to remove "re-education" camps. This means there would be very little pressure for the Chinese government to stop using "re-education" camps in order to suppress the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
ReplyDeleteRosella’s connection to world history is what leads me to believe that China is doing the wrong thing by sending the Uighur to "re-education camps". The process for the Jews also started out by stripping them of their identity then proceeded to be very consequential for them. I do not believe another population has to go through this just because of their religious views. A reason that this might not publicized is because of the restrictions placed on citizens. Living in the US a lot of times we take our freedom of speech for granted but the Chinese are oppressed. Going back to Germany the Holocaust wasn’t published because many citizens didn’t know about it or weren’t allowed to talk about it. Similarly, because of the Chinese oppression they may not be allowed to talk about it or are scared to. This may be the reason that their detainment crisis is so unpopulated. As we know recently, China's had a lot of issues with letting their citizens use twitter, and other social media sites. This situation had been getting a lot of publicity (https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/china-internet-social-media-great-firewall-of-china-censorship-apps-a8510036.html) but the issue still pertains. Although it is true that the detainment of a population is still a lot bigger than social media, if China hasn’t let publicity affect their decision. Ultimately I believe that China is wrong for blaming their internal problems and spending too much time and resources on detaining them rather than working towards fixing the problem.
ReplyDelete- Sanya 3*
I don't think that it is right for the Chinese government to detain the Uighurs and send them to "re-education camps" based on their religion. It strips their identity and forces them to become someone who they don't want to be and believe in ideas they may not want to believe in. Due to this, they are heavily criticized by the western powers as they believe in having the freedom to choose what they want and don't want to believe in. However, I do not think that the Chinese government would listen and apologize as they might think that submitting to the western powers' requests might lower their status as a large power. This may also lower the morale of the people in China if they see their government accepting demands. In addition, the western powers would want to avoid creating tensions or causing a conflict as it would only harm both sides.
ReplyDeleteWhat is happening in the Chinese Uyghur population is very surprising but totally unacceptable. Many people don't know that this will happen even. However, there is a reason for this. Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government have ensured that such information will not become an international issue. They have increased the censorship of information entry, departure and sharing across the country. Similar to the week's article on social media profile review, this supports how the Chinese government has changed dramatically. No one should be punished for living a life because of freedom, and China is depriving people who make humans individual by strengthening control, encouraging or even forcing loyal communist societies. To add I feel like the public's voicing of the topic can definitely have an effect on the Chinese governments actions but, it may take many people to do this. Also with the different policies that they have in China it is hard for people to voice their opinions.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is wrong for the Chinese government to detain the Uighur's and send them to "re-education camps". These actions deprive the Uighur people of their livelihood and identity just because they have different practices. China is discriminating against these minorities through scapegoating, so there's no just answer for China's actions against these people. I think that the reason for countries to turn a blind eye on this situation is because of economic and maybe political connections with China. Many countries make trade with China, relying on their goods for a stable economy. In addition, China offers financial aid to countries for their silence about the matter. I think that China may continue even with lots of public criticism, before World War 2 Hitler and Germany were able to push through many countries in Europe without any consequence despite their wrong doings. And the same could happen with China because no one wants to raise tension and get into a conflict.
ReplyDeleteHenry Louie
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteI think the Uighur detainment crisis is underpublicized for very apparent reasons. It is common knowledge that China’s censorship reaches severe levels and that China, like many other countries, uses the media to try and mold the citizens’ view of their own country and other foreign affairs. Knowing this, I don’t think the Chinese govt. would just allow news/information to spread about the Uighur crisis, not only within China but also internationally. If America (or any other country) publicized news that the Chinese govt. was trying to put a lid on, it would most likely raise tension or sour relationships between the countries. Additionally, with American companies like Google helping in Chinese censorship and Google attempting to develop a censored search engine (codenamed “Dragonfly”) for the Chinese govt. (https://theintercept.com/2018/09/21/google-suppresses-memo-revealing-plans-to-closely-track-search-users-in-china/) just goes to show how incongruous it’d be to widely publicize the Chinese government's crackdown on a religious minority while indirectly giving a hand in trying to censor information from the Chinese people.
ReplyDeleteChina is not doing the right thing by sending the Uighurs to "re education" camps because this violates the freedom of religion that western countries fortunately have. Although some Uighurs are responsible for terrorist attacks in China, I do not believe that it is humane to subject an entire ethnic group in China to torture and discipline. According to the original article, the crisis in Xinjiang is so under publicized because China's Belt and Road Initiative provides infrastructure development to many Muslim nations and influences those nations to not express much concern. I do not think that China will stop detaining the Uighurs in Xinjiang because China sees the Uighurs as a small, powerless population that can be easily "re-educated." China seeks to unite its people through religion and ideology so that it would be easier for the government to control its people and have cooperation from them. In the end, China limits people's freedom of expression to such an extent that it has become a privilege(https://www.cecc.gov/freedom-of-expression-in-china-a-privilege-not-a-right, Congressional-Executive Commission on China).
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Chinese are not doing the right thing by detaining the Uighur people and trying to stop them from practicing Islam. Although they say they are doing this because of attacks from the Uighur people in China (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/world/asia/han-uighur-relations-china.html?module=inline), I feel this is not a good way to solve problems of terrorism. It is only a small group of people who are committing these crimes, and grouping all of the Uighur people together is very unfair. Most of them are not terrorists, many people who are peaceful and do not wish to harm others are being forced to suffer. These attacks also were because of the government's already harsh treatment of the Uighur people, so I think detaining many more is a bad idea. I would think that this might cause many more to want to retaliate against the Chinese, and could lead to more violence.
ReplyDeleteI think there could be many factors to why the situation is under publicized. For one, the Chinese Communist government limits many of the information that gets out, and also control the media there. They try to keep it hidden by restricting knowledge of it, which could be one reason why it is not widely known of. Also, China is an important country to maintain relations with because of their trade, and many other countries may not want to anger China due to fear of China ending trade with them. This could cause the country to suffer economically, and could also lead to more dangerous relations with China.
China is creating a huge injustice by sending the Uighurs to re-education camps. It abolishes their rights and opportunities these people should be having, just like every other citizen in China. A whole minority should not be outcasted for their religious views or labeled as terrorists for the actions of a few outlaws.I believe that even though there will be public criticism of China's wrongdoings, there may not be any change in the way the Uighurs are treated. The UN, an international organization for peace, has called on China to free these Uighurs, yet no action has been made in changing the way the Uighur population is treated (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un/u-n-calls-on-china-to-free-uighurs-from-alleged-re-education-camps-idUSKCN1LF1D6). The author's comparison of China's re-education camps to Stalin's gulags opened my eyes to how there is still harsh discrimination towards certain ethnicities, and the importance of its extermination.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with all of the previous comments. The Uighurs should not be "re-educated." This is violating simple human rights. People should be able to practice their religion without being isolated, tortured, or shamed into thinking that what they believe in is "wrong." Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and values. The government should be uniting their people by embracing everybody's differences and influencing their people to coexist. History has seemed to repeat itself a countless number of times and a pattern is the lack of global education. I believe that anything can be stopped if people come together to take action against the injustice. Being properly educated can only help the situation. Although I understand that this is tricky situation in terms of questioning China, who holds the reputation of a very strong power, it is worth ending the suffering of innocent people and fighting for basic human rights.
ReplyDeleteI think that the re-education that the Chinese government is currently implementing in these areas is not something morally correct. However, the Chinese government claims that what they are doing is helping these minorities to receive a better professional education and helping them with housing. If the government is truly trying to achieve that goal and is not only using it as an excuse for forcing these Muslims to give up their religion, then I think it is a good program. The lack of coverage on this topic is most likely due to the Chinese government attempting to censor this news from the media. I also believe that unless a lot of people try to stop this problem, China will just refute the claims that people are making.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, China isn’t doing the right thing by sending Uighurs to “re-education” camps, because it definitely breaks many human rights rules. It dehumanizes the victims within the camps, just as the gulags did many years ago. The Uighur detainment crisis is so very under publicized and unspoken of due to China’s mass network of propaganda. On my trip to Urumuqi, Xinjing last summer, I could see posters of Chinese propaganda praising the president on every street corner. Even of the news, the most powerful Uighur of China claims that the camps had “won widespread acceptance and wholehearted support of the public in Xinjiang.” Lies like these are the cause of the lack of action to get rid of these dehumanizing camps. I believe that if enough people stand up against the Chinese government, make public demonstrations to spread awareness about these camps and the importance of human rights, then the situation could be bettered. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/world/asia/china-detention-uighur-muslims.html)
ReplyDelete