“I will protect the unification of the motherland and unity among ethnicities.” School children of detained minorities in Xinjiang, China unwillingly stand in rows, behind locked gates, chanting at a speaker towering above.
“What is the first question?”
“Are you Chinese?” The children respond.
“Yes…”
The tapes of Isobel Yeung, a British correspondent, are shut off by passing police officials.
The region of Xinjiang, China spans over 640,000 square miles with a population of nearly 25 million people: the majority of whom are Han Chinese, the most prominent ethnic group within China, and Uyghurs, a turkish ethnic group of Muslim decent.
Since 2017, Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization based in New York City, claims that the Chinese government has formulated camps to indoctrinate Uyghurs.
The United States has compared the creation of these “Uyghur” camps to similar actions taken by the Chinese government during the Chinese Cultural revolution, a period that occurred from 1966 to 1976 in which numerous violent sociopolitical purges were conducted upon various minority groups. The U.S government has called these camps within Xinjiang internment camps; the inmates there are held without trial and have no charges levied against them. The Xinjiang Autonomous Region government under the Chinese Communist Party insists that such camps be referred to as vocational education centers or re-education camps in which Uyghur minorities voluntarily enter in order to reintegrate with the Han Chinese culture.
The Chinese Communist Party is heavily criticized for alleged human rights abuses and mistreatment, with multiple countries alleging genocide. Others have expressed support for the camps as a part of a “people’s war on terror,” a Maoist military strategy developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong to maintain the support of the population and push the “enemy” far into the countryside. In October of 2020, at a United Nations meeting, forty-five nations including China supported China’s policies and rejected allegations against the nation, while thirty-nine nations condemned China’s policies and accepted allegations; an almost even split.
Differing opinions regarding Xinjiang’s vocational education centers are not solely bound to international discussion though, as Isobel Yeung quickly found that the citizens of Xinjiang have split opinions themselves.
Moments after landing in the autonomous region, Yeung’s taxi driver informed her, “Xinjiang is the safest place in China. Don’t listen to other people.”
“Why are there so many policemen around?” Yeung responds.
“They’re here to keep society stable. They’re here to catch the bad people.” The driver refers to minorities of the region. Moments later, Yeung meets a Uyghur at a train station. The man’s appearance and voice were altered to conceal his identity.
“How’s Uyghurs life nowadays?” Yeung whispers.
“Not good at all. Something bad has happened. I cannot talk about it. It is dangerous.”
“Are they’re being – how do I say it-‘re-educated’”
“It’s for ‘anti-terrorism.’ Those places are prisons. The police force them.” The man walks away. This account directly contradicts statements previously written by the Chinese Communist Party claiming Uyghurs voluntarily place themselves in institutionalized camps.
Yeung later meets a Han woman. Although supporting vocational education centers, she again contradicts previous Chinese statements. The woman states, “It’s about unity. ‘The Three Togethers.’ Eat together, live together, work together. They are always making trouble, so the government has to control them.”
Chinese authorities claim that holding such groups for the purpose of countering extremism and terrorism while promoting social integration is positive. As of 2019, a confirmed one and a half million minorities were detained. The amount of detainees was estimated to have doubled in late 2020.
In a region where surveillance cameras are posted nearly every two meters and military checkpoints, scanning every person’s face and body are regular, citizens are never out of the public eye. Uyghurs live in fear of being detained while children of detainees are separated from their families and sent to camps of their own; claimed to be kindergartens. Han Chinese share a separate viewpoint supporting vocational education centers as a part of a “people’s war on terror.” Nations globally maintain split opinions on the ethics behind such camps and the danger that may be present to the citizens of the region. With the little information that people worldwide hold it is clear that Xinjiang, China holds many secrets of its own.
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