Following the escape into exile of the KMT government who settled in taiwan, Xinjiang was
incorporated into the People’s Republic of China, a communist mega state.
Note that the use of the word communist is self-titled, i.e if China calls itself communist then its communist, any implications regarding the political theory developed by Marx is absent in this article.
Xinjiang was integrated into China while kicking and screaming, having some independence
movements whose greatest supporter was the soviet union during the sino-soviet split, and a number of pro independence acts all consolidating into the newest question towering over
Xinjiang: How can you turn a people and a land that was never peacefully ruled by governments like yours into a perfectly integrated part of your country? This question towered over many lands and it still does, from gaza to chechnya, catalonia and the sahara.
The Sino-Soviet split gave Xinjiang it’s greatest friend in the fight for independence, a friend that will end in 1991 as the Soviet Union dissolves into many republics. An event that strikes fear in the hearts of the leaders of China, fearing an independence
movement renaissance will strike Xinjiang.
Independence movements manifest in many diverging ways, the must eye catching of them all is terrorism. Terrorism as a neutral term meaning to kill or harm a civilian population in an attempt to raise fear that will play into the hands of a political goal. The conflict in Xinjiang has given birth to many cases of terrorism, both as a claim for independence and as a revenge against those who treat the uyghurs as less than.
Protests turned violent, China’s government argues that the violence was pre planned and
supported by the World Uyghur Congress, while the WYC claims terrorism is a result of the
inhumane treatment of Uyghers by China.
China didn’t wait for an international consensus as to the causes of its domestic terrorism problem and started enforcing anti terrorism measures.
In the “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism” China has taken an ultimate
decision, to root out Xinjiang based terrorism completely. A mind virus, a faulty ideology or just a dangerous idea is all it takes to lead anyone to commit acts of terrorism. Every citizen is a bet, every private movement is a bet, some may argue the price of freedom is
terrorism. The right of a law-abiding citizen to walk privately into a bar at 2 am, is the same right practiced by a low life buying a gun behind the dumpster, or making a homemade molotov cocktail.
The CCP’s ways of eliminating terrorism include a radical limit on religious freedom, constant surveillance, taking adults (including parents) into state mandated schools.
According to the CCP’s those methods have worked and since 2017 not one terrorist attack has occurred.
An effective all encompassing campaign, why call it a genocide?
The US and UK’s accusations of genocide often mention the conditions in the state mandated schools as a form of genocide, mainly cultural. An attempt to erase the Uygher muslim identity, to weed out any potential radical by all means necessary, mass sterilisations10, and unreasonable mass detaining of residents.
As to weather China’s campaign is a genocide or the first real solution to the terrorism problem, the history is yet to be written.
Bibliography:
7 Xinjiang: what the West doesn't tell you about China's war on terror (china-embassy.gov.cn)
6 (2)
5 In China’s Xinjiang, surveillance is all pervasive | Uighur | Al Jazeera
4 China Uighurs: Ban on long beards, veils in Xinjiang | Uighur News | Al Jazeera
Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims - The
New York Times (nytimes.com)
1 Who are the Uyghurs and why is China being accused of genocide? - BBC News
10 China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization | AP News
9 UK MPs declare China is committing genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang | Uyghurs | The Guardian
8 US accuses China of ‘genocide’ of Uyghurs and minority groups in Xinjiang | CNN
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