Xinjiang residents under tight control

[Randy W]

On 10/15/2018 at 12:30 AM, Mick said:

I, for one, think this whole situation is a powder keg with a markedly short fuse. The Uighur Minority has gradually become more radical in its rhetoric and the lingering question is when and where the Chinese government will draw the line. As Ronny said, it is doubtful that the radicals will fly planes into Chinese government buildings, but they can take other measures that the Chinese government might consider a catalyst for "social unrest." At the very least, it is a situation that bears watching closely. Added to that, I think it is in our nations best interest to stay out of it.

The Chinese government HAS drawn the line, due to riots, the attacks at the Kunming, Guangzhou, and Urumqi train stations, and the car bomb at Tiananmen Square.

See various topics tagged 'Xinjiang' http://candleforlove.com/forums/tags/Xinjiang/

Quote

Mr. Xi made his first and only visit as national leader to Xinjiang in April 2014. Hours after his four-day visit ended, assailants used bombs and knives to kill three people and wound nearly 80 others near a train station in Urumqi, the regional capital. The attack was seen as a rebuff to Mr. Xi, who had just left the city and vowed to wield an “iron fist” against Uighurs who oppose Chinese rule.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Mick]

Thanks for reminding me of all those events, Randy. All things considered, the Chinese government response has been characterized by more restraint than I would have expected. Of course, you are much closer to the actual events than those of us stateside. How does the Chinese press respond to all this?

[Randy W]

On 10/18/2018 at 5:36 AM, Mick said:

Thanks for reminding me of all those events, Randy. All things considered, the Chinese government response has been characterized by more restraint than I would have expected. Of course, you are much closer to the actual events than those of us stateside. How does the Chinese press respond to all this?

job training and free meals - from the SCMP

Xinjiang camps: top Chinese official in first detailed admission of ‘training and boarding’ centres

 

Camps for Muslim minorities provide ‘concentration training and boarding’ for those deemed influenced by extremism and suspected of minor crimes, region’s governor says

Quote

In a rare interview with state news agency Xinhua published on Tuesday, Xinjiang governor Shohrat Zakir described the camps as “professional vocational training institutions” that focus on “the country’s common language, legal knowledge, vocational skills, along with de-extremisation education”.

 

The centres are for “people influenced by terrorism and extremism” who are suspected of minor criminal offences that do not warrant criminal punishment, Zakir said, without disclosing how many people had been sent to the camps, or how long they had been held there.

 

But he said an unknown number of “trainees” had come close to or reached the standards for completing the training and were expected to “complete their education” by the end of the year – suggesting they may soon be released.

 

. . .

 

The interview came after Xinjiang sought to retroactively legitimise the camps last week by revising regional legislation to authorise local governments to open them so they could “educate and transform” people influenced by extremism.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the SCMP on YouTube

 

Uygur woman describes torture in China’s Xinjiang ‘vocational training’ camps

 

An Uygur woman has described torture and abuse she said she experienced at an internment camp in China’s western Xinjiang region. Speaking at a US Congressional hearing on November 28, Mihrigul Tursun, 29, said she was detained three times since traveling back to China in 2015. She said her four-month-old son, who was separated from her, died without explanation during one period inside one of what China describes as “vocational training centres”. Tursun also said she was electrocuted while in the facility, and witnessed nine other women die during a three-month detention. China’s embassy in Washington has not responded to media requests for comment on Tursun’s statements.

 

 

[Randy W]

from Chinafile

‘Now We Don’t Talk Anymore’

Inside the ‘Cleansing’ of Xinjiang

Quote

Far from being freed from “extremist influence,” the 12 mosques I visited over the next three weeks lacked any human presence at all. Eerily empty—apart from the ubiquitous P.R.C. flag—all were covered in razor wire, and entrances were monitored by security guards whose task it was to check ID cards and conduct iris recognition scans on anyone who dared enter.

. . .

The Arabic-script greeting that once adorned the door lintel had evidently been ripped off, replaced by a propaganda slogan reading “Love the [Chinese Communist] Party, Love the Country.” Such signs had once read: “Love the Country, Love Religion.” Now, religion was denied even a secondary level of popular allegiance.

. . .

As I walked away, the young man got out his phone, and apparently informed the door police there was a potential troublemaker at large, likely to cover his own back. Shortly afterwards, when I approached an older Uighur man watering the plants in the mosque courtyard, he systematically moved away, foot by foot, until finally giving me a firm shake of his head when I said hello. Seconds later, a police officer appeared at about a 25-foot distance and hung around until I moved away.

. . .

And what really happens to those interned in the camps? . . .

 

Local Uighurs, however, were adamant that the disappeared almost never make it out. A female professional in her 30s in Kashgar confirmed under her breath that next to no one is emerging from the camps, adding that the only ones released are “those who have fallen ill.” In another hushed conversation in Urumqi, a Uighur businessman in his early 40s explained, “Some people were given medicine to change their thinking, medicine for their minds, and it made them ill. Only then were they released.”

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

on "the sinicization of Islam, with Islamic communities urged to uphold the sinicization of their religion by improving their political stance and following the Party's leadership."

from the Global Times

Islamic communities urged to uphold sinicization, improve political stance

|
Representatives from local Islamic associations from eight provinces and regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan, Yunnan and Qinghai provinces, discuss a five-year (2018-2022) outline on the sinicization of Islam at a seminar held in Beijing on Saturday. Photo: Courtesy of the Chinese Islamic Association

Quote

China will soon release an outline on the sinicization of Islam, with Islamic communities urged to uphold the sinicization of their religion by improving their political stance and following the Party's leadership.

 

Representatives from local Islamic associations from eight provinces and regions, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan, Yunnan and Qinghai provinces, discussed a five-year (2018-22) outline on the sinicization of Islam at a seminar in Beijing on Saturday.

 

They agreed that the outline is the basic policy for Islamic sinicization for the next five years, according to a statement published on the China Islamic Association's website.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

This article is from the SCMP - one thing to keep clear is that these are NOT Australian citizens being detained. They are Chinese-citizen RESIDENTS of Australia.

17 Australian residents believed detained in China’s Uygur crackdown

• Individuals believed to have been detained while on trips to China visiting relatives
• Advocates for Australia’s 3,000-strong Uygur community call on government in Canberra to secure detainees’ release
   

Quote

The 17 cases – 15 Australian permanent residents and two on spouse visas – have been collected by Nurgul Sawut, an advocate for Uygurs in Australia, through interviews with their family members.

The individuals are believed to have been detained while on trips to China visiting relatives. Many have children or spouses who are Australian citizens.

 

It is difficult to confirm their fates, given the secretive nature of the camps, but Sawut believes one of the group is in prison, four are under house arrest, and the remaining 12 are in detention centres.

. . .

At the same time, members of Australia’s Uygur population have reported serious harassment by Chinese authorities on Australian soil, including intimidating phone calls and requests to send over personal data, with the threat of reprisals against family if they do not comply.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the Global Times

US in no position to criticize China's religious policy

Quote

Why did Bush's strategy in the Middle East fail in the end? An important reason is that he equated the war on terrorism with the war on the Islamic world, a war with faith. Although many people believe the word "crusade" in 2001 may be a slip of the tongue, it still reflects his political ideas as well as the long-time US strategy in the Middle East. The US "Greater Middle East" plan was an echo of the concept of a clash of civilizations.

 

In fact, such an undercurrent of resentment toward different civilizations is still buried in American society today.

 

The trend of rising nationalism and populism in the US is connected with the Trump administration's current policies. Behind such a trend, there is a huge risk of religious conflicts. It is the US which is incorporating deep religious beliefs into its politics.

 

As for China, it has been exercising the power of religious governance on its own soil. China's current religious policy encourages people of all faiths to live in harmony and develop together. China has never forcibly exported its own political ideas.

 

China has been working to effectively remove extremism. China has also guided Islam to be compatible with socialism and to sinicize the religion.

 

These examples can be regarded as effective acts to govern religion and maintain social stability in the modern secular world. The reality of the rapid development of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region proves that the governance of the Chinese government is successful.

 

Instead of criticizing China's domestic affairs, Washington should just mind its own business. All in all, the US shouldn't always play the missionary's role and force its faith on others.

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the Guardian UK

 

Revealed: new evidence of China's mission to raze the mosques of Xinjiang

 

 

“Many mosques are gone. In the past, in every village like in Yutian county would have had one,” said a Han Chinese restaurant owner in Yutian, who estimated that as much as 80% had been torn down.

 

“Before, mosques were places for Muslims to pray, have social gatherings. In recent years, they were all cancelled. It’s not only in Yutian, but the whole Hotan area, It’s all the same … it’s all been corrected,” he said.

Activists say the destruction of these historical sites is a way to assimilate the next generation of Uighurs. According to former residents, most Uighurs in Xinjiang had already stopped going to mosques, which are often equipped with surveillance systems. Most require visitors to register their IDs. Mass shrine festivals like the one at Imam Asim had been stopped for years.

Removing the structures, critics said, would make it harder for young Uighurs growing up in China to remember their distinctive background.

“If the current generation, you take away their parents and on the other hand you destroy the cultural heritage that reminds them of their origin … when they grow up, this will be foreign to them,” said a former resident of Hotan, referring to the number of Uighurs believed detained in camps, many of them separated from their families for months, sometimes years.

. . .

 

Today, officials describe any changes to mosques as an effort to “improve” them. In Xinjiang, various policies to update the mosques include adding electricity, roads, news broadcasts, radios and televisions, “cultural bookstores,” and toilets. Another includes equipping mosques with computers, air conditioning units, and lockers.

“That is code to allow them to demolish places that they deem to be in the way of progress or unsafe, to progressively yet steadily try to eradicate many of the places of worship for Uighurs and Muslim minorities,” said James Leibold, an associate professor at La Trobe University focusing on ethnic relations.

Critics say authorities are trying to remove even the history of the shrines. Rahile Dawut, a prominent Uighur academic who documented shrines across Xinjiang, disappeared in 2017. Her former colleagues and relatives believe she has been detained because of her work preserving Uighur traditions.

Dawut said in an interview in 2012: “If one were to remove these … shrines, the Uighur people would lose contact with earth. They would no longer have a personal, cultural, and spiritual history. After a few years we would not have a memory of why we live here or where we belong.”

 

[Randy W]

from the Shanghaiist and BBC

 

A BBC journalist was given a tour of a Xinjiang “thought transformation” camp and it was chilling

 

Reporter: "If they don’t want to come, then what happens?" Official: "We’ve never encountered that before, but we’d proactively guide them."

 

 

 

 

The BBC's post doesn't add anything, but is at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-china-48667221/inside-china-s-thought-transformation-camps

Edited June 19, 2019 by Randy W (see edit history)

[amberjack1234]

Kinda wants to make me wast to go there for a vacation.

[Randy W]

. . . and the word from the Global Times

on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/globaltimesnews/photos/a.123349831079259/2407916332622586/

Xinjiang's prosperity driven by China's strength

 

Quote

Today, Xinjiang experiences peace and development. The region was one step away from the turmoil triggered by terrorist attacks and ethnic and religious conflicts. It came close to becoming a second Chechnya or a second Syria. Both internal and external forces once launched a raid to turn Xinjiang into the new focus of the "three evil forces" (terrorism, extremism and separatism) in Central Asia. However, the Party and government led people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang to turn the tide and eventually ease the situation and place the region on the right track.

 

For people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, peace and stability are the starting point of happy lives. Back in the days when violent terrorism was frequent, investment continued to leave, tourists avoided the region, the economy declined and people were haunted by fear. Such a nightmare gave human rights no space. What once happened in Xinjiang was also having an impact outside the region, including Beijing, Kunming and other Chinese cities.

 

In recent years, the governance measures Xinjiang has taken have brought a miraculous change to the region.

 

Xinjiang has been free of violent terrorist attacks for nearly 30 consecutive months. This has not only restored peace and tranquility in Xinjiang, but has also rebuilt confidence in its society and reversed Xinjiang's image in the country.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

. . . and of course tourism is getting into its golden season

from the Global Times

Kum Tag Desert enters its golden season of tourism in Xinjiang

A tourist poses for photos at the Kum Tag Desert in Shanshan County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 2, 2019. The Kum Tag Desert has entered its golden season of tourism. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Tourists enter the Kum Tag Desert in Shanshan County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, July 2, 2019. The Kum Tag Desert has entered its golden season of tourism. (Xinhua/Ding Lei)

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Greg.D.]

You know I have been there and will be there again. These times will pass and Uyghurs will be Uyghurs. This land remains China's western frontier and dreams of secession (by a few) will dissipate and I think the intense effort to further sinocize locals (kind of expensive in at least manpower) will scale back and in ten years we'll be talking about something else.

Indeed, all of China is the lab for finding uses for ubiquitous public face and auto scanning, etc. And, we have our own battles over cell phone privacy, etc. so even we are not sure where we stand some of these issues. (I just read the FBI has harvested all of our faces from DMVs)

I would like to be able say that we don't do things the way they have, but there are many parallels to how we tried to anglicize Native Americans a 100+ years ago. I hope I can say we would not do that again, although you still hear "English only" sometimes.

Anyway, we must remain engaged with China and find a sustainable way to co-exist where they feel respected while satisfying the rest of the world that they play by agreed upon rules.

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the Global Times on Facebook -
https://www.facebook.com/globaltimesnews/posts/2421926934554859/

Global Times

9 hrs ·

Quote

Criticizing China on affairs related with #Xinjiang has become politically correct in some Western countries: scholar

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1157633.shtml

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)