China’s internment of Uighurs and other Muslims in the north-western Xinjiang province is a moral outrage. In the name of fighting Terrorism the People’s Republic has imprisoned as many as Two Million People, according to estimates from the US State Department. In a chilling example of the euphemisms behind which authoritarians can hide a policy of Ethnic Cleansing, the Chinese government describes the prison camps in which Uighurs are shaved, fed pork and forced to renounce their religion as “vocational training centres”. Beijing calls its programme “deradicalisation” but it appears to be an attempt to eliminate an entire culture, fuelled by an exaggerated fear of Islamist terrorism. Mosques and cemeteries have been knocked down; minor displays of religious adherence are Criminalised, from having a long beard or wearing a veil to closing a restaurant during Ramadan or praying “too much”. Even non-religious behaviours such as owning a passport or making “too many” phone calls outside the region can lead to the camps.
Sep 2020. Uighur Horrors in China
