China's War Against Muslims

At present, the Chinese Government are engaged in an unethnical war against the Uighur Muslim population of the western region of Xinjiang. Their undisclosed objective? The eradication of the Uighur identity.

The Uighurs are a Turkish Muslim ethnic group who make up around half of Xinjiang's

population of 26 million. Back in August 2018, it was reported that 1 million Uighur Muslims were being detained in what appeared to be a web of internment camps across Xinjiang. Campaign groups say that those detained are made to learn Mandarin Chinese, swear their loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, and denounce their faith. Described as "re-education" centres, these camps resemble a large-scale brainwashing programme. Not only

is China's detention of Uighurs a violation of a profusion of human rights all at once, from the

right to freedom of religion and political autonomy to liberty and security, but it is also undemocratic. Although the Government of Xinjiang has recently issued "deradicalization

rules" that provide authorization of some sort for the camps, detentions have been made in

the main without public scrutiny, legislative authority, or any system of appeal.

Although there is growing international concern of China's treatment of the Uighur Muslims, the numbers of new internment camps are growing rapidly. According to The Australian StrategicPolicy Institute, there are currently around 380 of such camps in Xinjiang; an alarming 40% increase since previous estimates. China has repeatedly denied any allegations of human rights abuses, with top officials claiming that "vocational centres" have been set up to combat poverty, extremism, and separatism.

While some members of the Uighur society have joined the Islamic State militant group, this is no different to any other country. Indeed, rights groups observe that any violence from amongst the Uighur people is presumably the fruit of China's totalitarian regime. The Chinese Government's latest endeavours stemmed from a

knife attack that took place in Xinjiang in February 2017, where five people were killed. Following the attack, Xinjiang's Communist leader called upon the central government to "bury the corpses of terrorists in the vast sea of a people's war".

However, one cannot help but think that China's actions are counterproductive. It is no secret that oppression gives rise to resistance. In an interview with The New York Times, 41-year old Abdusalam Muhemet said of the internment camp, where he had been held for several months, "that was not a place for getting rid of extremism... that was a place that will breed vengeful feelings and erase Uighur identity".

It is not difficult to imagine the economic and emotional devastation felt within the Uighur society because of these draconian measures. Crops are left unattended and families are being torn apart as thousands of children are separated from their parents, with women being forced to undergo sterilisation. In Government documents, Uighur beliefs and traditions are sometimes referred to as an "ideological virus", the only cure being the eradication of Uighur identity. Does this sound familiar? China's view on the Uighurs echoes that of the Nazi rule on Jews during the Second World War and prior. Nazi ideological policy sought to "purify" the Aryan race by ridding it of "germs", that being people of Jewish heritage. As in Germany's situation, silence and inertia towards the current human rights abuse against Uighur Muslims in China could call forth grave consequences.

At the United Nations, 39 countries have already condemned China's abuse of Uighurs. However, there is no question that this abomination of humanity will persist unless leading nations such as the UK take substantial measures to show rather than tell of their condemnation of China's actions. The US have recently blocked some exports from China's Xinjiang region claiming the products were made using "modern day slavery" at what it referred to as a "concentration camp". Given the current economic uncertainty in the UK following Brexit, one can accept that the UK might not be in a position as strong as its US counterpart to take such a bold stance. However, the UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has previously announced that he has not ruled out boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics in a protest against the treatment of Uighur Muslims by the Chinese Government. This would not only highlight to the world the UK's commitment to human rights, it would also dispel some worries regarding the UK's commitment to internal human rights following Brexit. As Dominic Raab rightly put it, "The United Kingdom is watching, the whole world is watching".

This Summer, Raab announced the passage of a new national security legislation which has

extended to Hong Kong the arms embargo that the UK has applied to mainland China since 1989. In essence, what this means is a ban on exports from the UK to Hong Kong of potentially lethal weapons and any equipment which might be used for internal repression such as shackles, firearms and so on. This is a step in the right direction to pull the plug on China's endeavours. However, China's newly elected seat on the UN Human Rights Council shows that there is still much more to be done. As a global leader, China wields great influence over the rest of the world thus, by welcoming China into the UN Human Rights Council despite its "serial abuse of human rights", an unnerving message is sent to less powerful, albeit terror-driven states.

China's treatment of the Uighurs is nothing short of appalling, and as a nation who prides itself on its democratic merits, the UK should worry a little less about economy and join the fight for justice for the Uighur Muslim in the Xinjiang region.