Xinjiang and Human Rights
"A claim like 'there’s cultural genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang' is simply unreal to most Westerners, close to pure gibberish. The words really refer to existing entities and geographies, but Westerners aren’t familiar with them. The actual content of the utterance as it spills out is no more complex or nuanced than 'China Bad,' and the elementary mistakes people make when they write out statements of 'solidarity' make that much clear. This is not a complaint that these people have not studied China enough — there’s no reason to expect them to study China, and retrospectively I think to some extent it was a mistake to personally have spent so much time trying to teach them. It’s instead an acknowledgment that they are eagerly wielding the accusation like a club, that they are in reality unconcerned with its truth-content, because it serves a social purpose.What is this social purpose? Westerners want to believe that other places are worse off, exactly how Americans and Canadians perennially flatter themselves by attacking each others’ decaying health-care systems, or how a divorcee might fantasize that their ex-lover’s blooming love-life is secretly miserable. This kind of 'crab mentality' is actually a sophisticated coping mechanism suitable for an environment in which no other course of action seems viable. Cognitive dissonance, the kind that eventually spurs one into becoming intolerant of the status quo and into action, is initially unpleasant and scary for everybody. In this way, we can begin to understand the benefit that 'victims' of propaganda derive from carelessly 'spreading awareness.' Their efforts feed an ambient propaganda haze of controversy and scandal and wariness that suffocates any painful optimism (or jealousy) and ensuing sense of duty one might otherwise feel from a casual glance at the amazing things happening elsewhere. People aren’t 'falling' for atrocity propaganda; they’re eagerly seeking it out, like a soothing balm."
* Despite Xinjiang being open to tourism, not a single Uyghur person has been demonstrated to have been killed in captivity by the Chinese government (all while hundreds of thousands of civilians are [confirmed to be] killed in the genocide in Yemen, a region which has been largely artificially closed off). It's strange that China has roughly 54 other ethnic groups which have been relatively unscathed, including other Muslim-majority ethnic groups such as the Hui ethnic group, which is larger than the Uyghur population.
* The quote from the New York Times Article discussing the files [nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/china-xinjiang-documents.html]: “absolutely no mercy” was from a 2014 speech on the terror attacks, specifically was referring to the perpetrators of the terror attacks, and did not scapegoat Uyghurs to any extent (what a wonder a three letter quote could be taken out of context!) in addition, the phrase “organs of dictatorship” from that speech refers to the proletarian class dictatorshipThe “leaked documents” (provided by anonymous sources) were affirmed by Adrian Zenz (discussed below) and James Mulvenon (former member of the U.S. state adjacent Council on Foreign Relations and member of the National Committee on United States - China Relations, which along with the Defense Group Inc.—of which he is vice-president–provides military policy planning and assessments to the United States Government). Mulvenon also has testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a U.S. Government project. His profile for this commission reads in part:“James Mulvenon is Director of Intelligence Integration at SOS International, where he has recruited and trained a team of more than forty-five Chinese, Russian, Korean, and Farsi linguist-analysts and ten cleared software developers, performing collection, analysis, and operations support for US Government and corporate customers”†This relates to the discussion of U.S. government influence on research below
The principle document (the “bulletins” are rather benign) is a top-secret telegram which the ICIJ describes as:“...from the Communist Party commission in charge of Xinjiang’s security apparatus. The telegram, written in Chinese, is an operations manual for running the mass detention camps. It is marked ‘secret’ and was approved by Zhu Hailun, then deputy secretary of Xinjiang’s Communist Party and the region’s top security official.”Clearly what we have here is a document meant for only the highest levels of the bureaucracy, one which will divulge the actual thought process and rationale behind re-education policy.The document begins with a set of guidelines for running the facilities. First is “[to] ensure that the training venue is absolutely safe].” The guidelines follow:“It is strictly forbidden for police to enter the student zone with guns, and they must never allow escapes, never allow trouble… never allow food safety incidents and major epidemics, and they must ensure the training center is safe and free of risk”"Through letter writing, phone calls, video chats, visits, meetings, etc., establish a mechanism for students and relatives to interact with each other, to that the ensure students will have a phone conversation with their relatives at least once a month, to make their family feel at ease and the students feel safe.""...every effort should be made to fix employment work for completed graduates to ensure the smooth development of students with employment aspirations. For those who don't have the ability to work and have difficulties in life, it is necessary to coordinate grassroots organizations to seriously carry out assistance and relief work, and effectively solve practical difficulties."There are further notes on strict time management, preventing earthquakes and fires, and also measures to surveil all areas. These seem comparable to prisons, which is in line with the highest facilities being reserved for radicalized terrorists (bulletin No. 20 deals with those spreading violent propaganda / those who have joined terrorist organizations). When considering that the United States promoted terrorist radicalization in Xinjiang [sect. 5], such things lose isolation. The document outlines a very strict process, but one not mentioning forced anti-religious practices such as consuming pork or alcohol [The Independent 29 May 2018], organ harvesting [Falun Gong cult allegations], forced labor [U.S. Dept. of Labor], or physical abuse/torture (we cannot make a case of propaganda, because these are again purportedly top-secret documents). This only affirms the PRC’s claims broadly speaking.
Estimations of 100,000+ detainees rely on sampling and estimation, usually from U.S. government affiliated sources:1. 2018 UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination report authored by the NGO (Network of) Chinese Human Rights Defenders [which has received NED (U.S. government) funding; IRS filing forms show that the group consistently receives the vast majority of its funding from rival governments]The report (which concludes 1.3-2 million detainees) was based on interviews with only 8 Uyghur individuals, then extrapolated to form percent estimates on the population of detainees in the XUAR2. Adrian Zenz (Director at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, which was established by the U.S. government)In his initial report for the ~1m estimate [https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2018.1507997], RFA (U.S. government propaganda outlet) is cited four times, and the estimate is only mentioned on (pp. 21-2). Zenz finds this number by roughly extrapolating a “leaked” report by Newsweek Japan (affiliated with Newsweek Inc.). This report comes from “Istekral TV”, which frequently platforms the terrorist organization ETIM. The report was never confirmed.Judging by an RFA report (RFA 2017; p. 22), Zenz states, “while there is no certainty, it is reasonable to speculate that the total number of detainees is between several hundred thousand and just over one million.” This is all that is said regarding this topic. Since then, Zenz as well as everyone else have converted the number (it is quite suitable to multiply it at one’s discretion) into pathology, so that its origins are quite obscured.
Note: Zenz authored a book titled Worthy Escape: Why All Believers Will Not be Raptured Before the Tribulation, containing not a few awful quotes which for some reason have not affected his career in the least:“It is very likely that the global persecution of true believers will center on the charge that they promote ‘intolerant views,’ especially related to preaching against homosexuality” (Zenz & Sias 85).“Hate crime and anti-discrimination laws will likely play a major role in the suppression of biblical Christianity” (Zenz & Sias 86).“Rising numbers of countries are banning all forms of physical punishment of children, the primary scriptural method for instilling respect for authority in the young generation and protecting them from rebellious tendencies… But true scriptural spanking is loving discipline and not violence, and neglecting the wisdom of God makes the church increasingly vulnerable to the schemes of the enemy” (Zenz & Sias 120-21).“God's refining process will wipe out all unbelieving Jews who refuse to come to Christ and leave only born-again Israelites to enter the millennial reign of Christ” (Zenz & Sias 618-19).“The Antichrist is dependent on the harlot, because he must seize upon humanity's desperate craving for all that the harlot offers in order to achieve world domination. The world will worship him because he will promise them all these things, promoting sexual ‘freedom’ (the unrestrained and godless practice of all sexual behaviors, including homosexuality), control over their affairs (independence from God), and he will vow to maintain people's standard of living” (Zenz & Sias 653-54).
^ Lawrence Wilkerson, Chief of Staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell and retired US Army Colonel
^ Sibel Edmonds, a former interpreter with the FBI, talking about the U.S.’s plan for Xinjiang in 2015 (crackdown began in 2017)ex. “Xinjiang is the entry artery of energy. We want to, gradually and internally, play the gender card and the race card. For that part of the world, we want to play the minority without land. We say we are going to help them and they are being oppressed, Chinese are gunning them down and torturing them.”
“During the Cold War, a Pan-Turkish movement was unleashed by Col. Alparslan Türkeş, the Gladio commander in Turkey, who upheld a belief in Turkish racial superiority. He envisioned the restoration of the Ottoman Empire from the collapse of the Soviet Union, which kept the Turkish peoples of Central Asia in political and economic bondage. The Grey Wolves, the ‘youth military unit’ formed by Türkeş, were named after the legendary wolves that led the scattered Turkish tribes out of Asia to their homeland in Anatolia. This task did not seem daunting. Thanks to Gladio, the CIA had controlled Turkish affairs for decades. Çatlı, as a disciple of Türkeş, was an extremely useful agent provocateur—an operative capable [of] expanding both the drug trade and the strategy of tension within Xinjiang and Central Asia. Throughout the 1990s, hundreds of Uyghurs were transported to Afghanistan by the CIA for training in guerrilla warfare by the mujahideen. When they returned to Xinjiang, they formed the East Turkistan Islamic Movement and came under Çatlı‘s expert direction. Graham Fuller, CIA superspy, offered this explanation for radicalizing the Chinese Muslims:The policy of guiding the evolution of Islam and of helping them [Muslims] against our adversaries worked marvelously well in Afghanistan against the Red Army. The same doctrines can still be used to destabilize what remains of Russian power, and especially to counter the Chinese influence in Central AsiaThis policy of destabilization was devised by Bernard Lewis, an Oxford University specialist on Islamic studies, who called for the creation of an 'Arc of Crisis' around the southern borders of the Soviet Union by empowering Muslim radicals to rebel against their Communist overlords” (Williams 240).
Operation Gladio: The Unholy Alliance Between the Vatican, the CIA, and the Mafia by Paul L. Williams (2015)
The reason education centers are being created in Xinjiang in the first place is because the region has a genuine issue with terrorism and extremism (due somewhat to foreign destabilization efforts as proven above). The exiled East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) from this region is a major terrorist group (designated by the UN as such) that advocates separatism and recruits children.Here is a non-comprehensive list of terrorist attacks in Xinjiang (and some in other areas, see end) since 2005:Urumqi [5 July 2009] (organized by ETIM)
Aksu [19 Aug. 2010]
Kashgar [30 July 2011] (ETIM claimed responsibility)
Kashgar Prefecture [28 Feb. 2012]
Shanshan County [26 June 2013]
Beijing [28 Oct. 2013] (not Xinjiang)
Wushi County [14 Feb. 2014]
Kunming [1 Mar. 2014] (not Xinjiang)
Urumqi [30 Apr. 2014]
Urumqi [22 May 2014]
Hotan Prefecture [15 June 2014]
Aksu Prefecture [27 June 2014]
Shache County [28 July 2o14]
Luntai County [21 Sept. 2014]
Yakan County [28 Nov. 2014]
Guangzhou [6 Mar. 2015] (not Xinjiang)
Baicheng County [18 Sept. 2015]
Hotan Prefecture [28 Dec. 2016]
The current president of the NED Carl Gershman, in 1986:"We should not have to do this kind of work covertly. It would be terrible for democratic groups around the world to be seen as subsidized by the C.I.A. We saw that in the 60's, and that's why it has been discontinued. We have not had the capability of doing this, and that's why the endowment was created" (Shipler). [1]Allen Weinstein (founder of the NED) said in 1991:"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA” (Ignatius). [2]
Shipler, David. “Missionaries for Democracy: U.S. Aid for Global Pluralism.” New York Times, 1 Jun. 1986, www.nytimes.com/1986/06/01/world/missionaries-for-democracy-us-aid-for-
global-pluralism.html.Ignatius, David. “Innocence Abroad: The New World of Spyless Coups.” Washington Post, 22 Sept. 1991, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/09/22/innocence-abroad-the-
new-world-of-spyless-coups/92bb989a-de6e-4bb8-99b9-462c76b59a16.