IN the last few months, the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) has been inundated with videos and articles alleging cruel persecution and oppression of the Uighur in Xinjiang province, China.
The Uighur and some other groups are seen as threats to national security over purported links to separatist insurgency. A UN panel reported last August that as many as 2 million people may have been held in camps in Xinjiang.
According to dissidents, there is a systematic effort to brainwash the detainees. The propaganda is not just about ideologies. It is alleged detainees are required to abdicate prohibitions and even renounce their faith. Torture is apparently common. Some critics describe the targeting of the Uighurs as “the most brutal repression ... since the Cultural Revolution.”
China has denied vehemently the allegations. The authorities reject any suggestion that there has been forced renunciation of Islam. They admit there are re-education centres but focused on combating terrorism, extremism and separatism.
The critics from civil society are disappointed that governments as a whole have chosen to keep quiet about the atrocities and attribute the silence to the fear that China with its huge economic clout will make things difficult for countries that have become dependent upon Chinese investments and trade.
It is equally true that China is being attacked much more in the media and by civil society groups today than in the past because of its phenomenal rise as a global power. The forces that dominate the global system resent this since they are hell-bent on perpetuating their hegemony. This is why they are using the media and civil society to expose flaws and foibles in Chinese governance. How Beijing treats the Uighurs and other minorities is perhaps one of those flaws that is susceptible to manipulation and distortion. And there has been a great deal of exaggeration and hyperbole about the plight of the Uighurs. This does not mean however that the real challenges confronting the Uighurs and other minorities should be glossed over.
To convince everyone that the Chinese government is willing to address genuine Uighur grievances it should invite representatives from civil society in some Muslim majority countries to undertake a fact-finding mission. Members of the mission should have the full freedom to visit the re-education centres and interview detainees. The mission’s report should be submitted to not only the authorities in Xinjiang and to the leaders of the Uighur community but also to Beijing. The countries from which the members of the mission are drawn and the world at large should also have full access to its findings. Most of all, one hopes that if the recommendations are feasible, Beijing and Xinjiang will try to implement them with sincere trust. If that is done, it is conceivable that the chapter on the Uighurs will be brought to a close.
It is in Beijing’s interest to resolve the Uighur issue in such a manner that the identity and dignity of the Uighurs and other minorities in are protected and enhanced. If injustices against Uighurs real or perceived are allowed to fester much longer, it may erode China’s standing among Muslim majority countries. This is especially so since the Hui, Muslims among the majority Han people, it is alleged, are also now being targeted by the authorities.
There could be repercussions for China’s Belt Road Initiative since it involves many countries with substantial Muslim populations. China is also heavily dependent upon the import of oil from Muslim countries. There are civil society groups in some of these countries which are unhappy about Beijing’s attitude towards the Uighurs and Muslims. They are demanding action against Beijing.
Viewed in this context, resolving Uighur challenges immediately may well secure China’s economic position and fortify its global role.
Dr Chandra Muzaffar is the president of the International Movement for a Just World.
