So, here are my problems with the #Uighur issue…
First and foremost, the US is condemning #China for repressing #Muslims. That should be an immediate red flag for anyone who does not suffer from some form of amnesia. And, BECAUSE the US is (newly) taking the side of the Uighurs (whom they used to jail as religious extremists and separatist terrorists), there is suddenly media coverage and slickly produced, shareable online content that bears all the hallmarks of propaganda.
Obviously, the US is currently engaged in a hostile rivalry with China, as well as facing considerable criticism for their own anti-Muslim policies (including actual military campaigns). Slamming China over the Uighurs, therefore, kills two birds with one stone…first bird: China is demonised. Second bird: Virtue signalling on the Uighurs distracts from American anti-Muslim attitudes and actions.
Then there is the fact that the anti-China, pro-Uighur propaganda almost always fails to mention that the Uighurs have been waging a separatist campaign for decades. The separatist groups have used Islam, Muslim identity, and religious rhetoric to mobilise support…they politicised the religion, and tried to equate being Muslim with being separatist. Of course, China will respond aggressively to this. Maintaining territorial integrity is supremely important to China. So when you fail to mention this element of the conflict, it looks like you are being deliberately misleading.
Next, the US does not care even a little about the literal ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Myanmar, but expresses outrage about the Uighur. The inconsistency is informative.
If the US can use this issue to estrange the Muslim world from China, of course that would make them very happy; and, frankly, I do not know if China is politically mature enough to even understand the global ramifications of Xinjiang. This issue could literally force China to disengage from international affairs in the Middle East, North Africa, and Muslim Asia. Never mind that Muslim governments are reticent on the issue, the populations are capable of imposing conditions that make engagement impossible for China.
And then, there is the fact that we are, after all, talking about China. “Re-education” camps do not exactly have a bad name in China. It is entirely conceivable to me that they genuinely think they are doing something good here. Disloyalty to “the Party”, having a unique identity that does not conform to the accepted, mainstream identity is surely viewed as a kind of mental disorder that needs to be cured.
Because the Uighur separatist groups have based their call to a large degree on Muslim uniqueness, it would make sense to Beijing that the “solution” is to wipe out that identity in order to quash the separatist movement.
And finally, well, there is the separatist movement itself. It does not make sense to me, it is impractical and unrealistic, and I do not think it is even remotely a good idea. This, incidentally, is generally the case with separatist movements.
Now, is China justified in what they are allegedly doing? No. Obviously not. But, it seems to me, if anyone is serious about resolving the conflict, the first necessity is honesty; and I think that is completely missing from both sides.
One of the most important lessons, in my view, from all this, is the grave danger in politicising Muslim identity, and using the religion to validate political aspirations.