Mwalimu-G
Elder Lister
...Operators of Guantanamo Bay camp pontificate over China's dealing with it's Uyghur question...
March 10, 2021
Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu
'The supply chain has been maxed out'
A devastating independent report accusing China of across-the-board genocide in Xinjiang leaves the rest of the world with two questions: What to do, and will it make any difference?
The report finds that China’s government is deliberately trying to "destroy" the Uyghur ethnic group, contravening every provision of the Genocide Convention that it has ratified. Up to 2 million Uyghurs have been detained in camps in the northwestern province and former detainees have testified to indoctrination, sexual abuse and forced sterilization. China denies human rights abuses and says the centers counter religious extremism and terrorism.
In Washington, few doubt what is going on: On its last day, the Trump administration belatedly declared a genocide (after the ex-President soft-pedaled the issue while pursuing a trade deal with China). President Joe Biden came to an identical conclusion while he was a candidate. Now the US response is on him.
But the world has struggled before to mobilize against genocide even in small nations without China's vast clout, like Bosnia or Rwanda. In this case, there’s no chance of a military response to stop the torment of the Uyghurs. And while nations could make trade with China conditional on improvements in human rights, few political leaders will hurt their own economies to make such a point. So far, there’s not much stomach for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 — a point of leverage given the Games' propaganda value to China.
David Scheffer, a former US ambassador at large for War Crimes Issues, said on CNN’s “Amanpour” on Tuesday that one punishment could be to label goods from Xinjiang as the product of forced labor or a "genocidal" nation. Targeted measures like sanctions on individual Chinese government figures are still an option. And repeated condemnation of Beijing across all levels of diplomacy could seek to shame and publicly embarrass China into changing its behavior.
But such a campaign will come up against the issue common to every point of contention between Xi Jinping’s hardline government and its adversaries, from Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, to espionage in the West and violations of global trade norms: Is China now so powerful, rich and dedicated to an authoritarian course that it is impossible to shame and impervious to change?
March 10, 2021
Stephen Collinson and Caitlin Hu
'The supply chain has been maxed out'
A devastating independent report accusing China of across-the-board genocide in Xinjiang leaves the rest of the world with two questions: What to do, and will it make any difference?
The report finds that China’s government is deliberately trying to "destroy" the Uyghur ethnic group, contravening every provision of the Genocide Convention that it has ratified. Up to 2 million Uyghurs have been detained in camps in the northwestern province and former detainees have testified to indoctrination, sexual abuse and forced sterilization. China denies human rights abuses and says the centers counter religious extremism and terrorism.
In Washington, few doubt what is going on: On its last day, the Trump administration belatedly declared a genocide (after the ex-President soft-pedaled the issue while pursuing a trade deal with China). President Joe Biden came to an identical conclusion while he was a candidate. Now the US response is on him.
But the world has struggled before to mobilize against genocide even in small nations without China's vast clout, like Bosnia or Rwanda. In this case, there’s no chance of a military response to stop the torment of the Uyghurs. And while nations could make trade with China conditional on improvements in human rights, few political leaders will hurt their own economies to make such a point. So far, there’s not much stomach for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 — a point of leverage given the Games' propaganda value to China.
David Scheffer, a former US ambassador at large for War Crimes Issues, said on CNN’s “Amanpour” on Tuesday that one punishment could be to label goods from Xinjiang as the product of forced labor or a "genocidal" nation. Targeted measures like sanctions on individual Chinese government figures are still an option. And repeated condemnation of Beijing across all levels of diplomacy could seek to shame and publicly embarrass China into changing its behavior.
But such a campaign will come up against the issue common to every point of contention between Xi Jinping’s hardline government and its adversaries, from Beijing's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, to espionage in the West and violations of global trade norms: Is China now so powerful, rich and dedicated to an authoritarian course that it is impossible to shame and impervious to change?
Last edited:
