Chinese Uyghur Camps, Are We Silent Witnesses of Genocide

   What is really happening in the Xinjiang region of China? I've been pondering this question for over a year now and I'm coming to the realization that all the signs are evident of ethnic cleansing. I'm a Socialist, and have a tendency to defend the Communist superpower when it comes to certain events. The ridiculously ineffective tariffs Trump imposed on China was an abject failure. The tariffs were put in place for all the wrong reasons. Instead of highlighting China's spotty Human Rights record, including the mass incarceration of a million or more of the mostly Muslim, Uygur population in Xinjiang. Trump chose to use the tariffs as an attempt to prove to the world how tough he was and that the United States could handle mass economic production on their own. As we know now, we weren't and eventually the tariffs were lowered and then lifted completely . Secondly, the Trump admistration voiced support for the pro-democracy protests/riots in Hong Kong but again did nothing tangible to really help in any way. I digress, as the focus of the piece is not meant to be about more of Donald Trump's policy failure but to delve into the dark under belly of Communist authoritarianism and the possibility of Genocide.

    The Uygurs trace their roots back to the late 8th century. They were nomadic, Turkic tribes who originated and briefly ruled over a fairly large empire in parts of present day Mongolia, Turkistan and of course Xinjiang. According to Brittanica.com the Uygur population was as high as 10 million in Xinjiang and several hundred thousand more in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan at the turn of the 21st century. In 2014, President Xi Jingping, got started on his quote, "People's war on terrorists" following a transit bombing by Uygur "militants" in the regional capital of Urumqi, as reported by the Associated Press. Shortly thereafter were the earliest accounts of systematic mass surveillance and incarceration used by the CCP(Chinese Communist Party). Despite the fact acts of terrorism amongst the Uygurs certainly wasn't a regular occurrence,the Chinese hierarchy felt the need for drastic changes in the region. The Uygurs are a mostly peaceful people, who are known for talented craftsmanship,as well as  eastern styles of music. 

   As of 2017 the CCP were pushing their attempts at "socializing" the Uygur populace. Over 10 thousand mosques were eliminated, Chinese propaganda began to demonize the muslim faith as simply a breeding ground for radicalization and anti-government idealism. Very few mosques remain in use and the ones left are decked out in the familiar red and yellow Chinese flag as well as portraits of Chairman Xi and the "father" of modern China; you guessed it, the legendary revolutionary/mass murderer Mao Zedong. For those of you educated on the tenets of the Communist superstate ideology: religion, and most importantly any acts or belief systems found to be "counter-revolutionary," or in more lehman's terms, anything against the good of the state is seen as dangerous, which means basically treasonous. Sadly, wherever there is a large group of Islamic people who live in a country where they're seen as outsiders and treated as such, radicalization and consequently acts of terrorism do happen. Shortly after the attacks of 9/11 and decades later attacks in London, Paris and Madrid anti Islamic sentiment was becoming a daily practice even more democratic, secular countries. So, let's not pretend the Chinese government are alone in their fear and paranoia of their own lslamic population. It happens basically anywhere they're the minority it just seems in this case the CCP may be taking it to a possible genocidal level.

   A major reason that this potential human rights crime is not getting the international attention it warrants is the massive Chinese influence, both economically and militarily throughout the world. In fact, predominately muslim countries Pakistan, Iran and even Indonesia especially depend on Chinese exports to keep their economies afloat. Iran, especially due to reimplementation of crippling sanctions by the Trump admistration. How could those nations risk their own potential survival by publicly critizing their own life support? Other nations including Australia has attempted to bring the Uygurs plight to the international forefront, with limited success. The UN has also tried to bring what the CCP calls "reeducation and employment centers" though photographs show them looking more like prisons or more terrifying, concentration camps. Rumors of forced sterilization, detentions without trials and even human liquidations have been mentioned as possible facts.

    Unfortunately, we may never be able to conclusively know what's really happening at those facilities. The truth may be somewhere in between what the CCP says and what the rest of the world believes, based on heresay and what little evidence there is. What we do know is, the Uygur population in the Xinjiang region are being subjected to massively invasive surveillance programs, as well as an inordinate amount of forced detentions. As the Uygurs slowly vanish, Han Chinese from nearby provinces are immigrating into Xinjiang areas where the Uygurs once were the overwhelming majority. The Han Chinese ethnic group make up over 90% of the 1.4 billion people in mainland China (According to new world encyclopedia.org.). Obviously the government of China is perfectly happy with the mostly Muslim Uygurs being replaced with a populace more in tuned with the CCP's ethos. More investigative journalism and UN inspections are needed to get the true picture of what is really going on in the Xinjiang region of China. The difficulty of receiving any independent news or studies in the strictly censored country remains the major obstacle of finding out the truth. Lastly, Socialism has been used by governments in many different ways. China is the Communist superpower of our age, and what they're potentially doing to an entire ethnicity is wrong on so many levels. Hopefully, someday in the near future, we'll truly find out if the Uygurs are being purposefully eliminated by the CCP.