Again is happening again

China's genocide against the Uighurs

I first started this because I was consistently frustrated with people saying things not based in reality and not addressing significant, real-world issues.  There is arguably no more important issue to address than genocide.  Despite the calls of “never again” it has happened again and again since the horrors of the Holocaust.  It is happening once again.  China is engaged in genocide against the Uighur minority group in Xinjiang Province...here’s my case.

#1-China’s actions check all of the boxes of the U.N.’s definition of genocide.  The UN definition includes five criteria for genocide and states that the presence of any of the acts committed against a national, ethnic, racial or religious group constitute genocide.  A quick examination of the five criteria presents a pretty clear picture.

1. “Killing members of the group.”  This is the one that the Economist article focuses on when declaring genocide is the wrong term and the one that we most often associate with genocide.  The absence of obvious widespread killing in Xinjiang for some indicates the absence of genocide.  However, there is evidence that widespread death has occurred.  One troubling sign is the high number of “missing” people, with estimates as high as a million.  In conflicts around the world when people have gone “missing” it generally means they have been killed or have died in a prison or internment camp.  Some prominent historic examples are in Argentina, Soviet Union, and China under Mao.  There are countless other examples and the tactic of concealing widespread murder by referring to “missing” people has been used consistently throughout history.

2. “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.”  Treatment of Uighurs in detention camps include serious bodily and mental harm.  Here are some examples.  Women are systematically raped and sexually abused.  Hair and organs are being harvested from Uighur prisoners and being sold by China.  Detainees are both physically and mentally tortured.  The goal of “re-education” in and of itself is a form of psychological torture in its attempt to change the most fundamental beliefs of a person.  There is little doubt that this is occurring in Xinjiang and remember, the U.N.’s definition of genocide requires only one of its criteria to be met for an action to be called genocide.

3. “Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”  Uighurs in Xinjiang are under constant electronic and genetic surveillance.  Uighurs have been forced to live with Chinese Communist party members and made to redecorate their own homes to make them more “Chinese”.  Millions have had family members disappear or taken away to internment camps, leaving them separate from kids and their religious community, villages empty and jobs lost.  The result of all of these actions, and others, is to make life unbearable.  Living under constant surveillance, separate from loved ones, without an economic future and disconnected from religious meaning seems like the way to create conditions of life to cause the physical destruction of a group.

4. “Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”  Uighur women have faced forced sterilization and abortions, as well as forced use as IUDs.  These measures have been “successful” in that they have reduced birth rates by almost 33% a year and a sharp decline in population growth.

5. “Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”  As mentioned above, parents are often separated from children when they are forced into internment camps.  The children are then moved to state orphanages or boarding schools, where they must speak Mandarin and cannot practice religious rituals.  This is again a common practice throughout history, such as residential schools in Canada that attempted to make indigenous groups more “Canandian”.

#2-Not everyone refers to it as genocide or thinks that it is a genocide.  A recent article in the Economist suggests that genocide is the wrong word.  While they call for actions to stop what is occurring in China they argue that using the term genocide, when it isn’t, will result in a less effective response.  Disney presumably does not believe it’s a genocide, as they filmedMulan in the same province of China where the genocide is occurring.  Former President Trump reportedly told Chinese leader Xi that the detention camps were “exactly the right thing to do”.  The EU parliament has also been debating what to call what’s happening in China and appears to be moving to taking some action.  Some countries, such as the United States and the Netherlands, have referred to it as genocide but they are in the minority.  It may seem like mere semantics but there are legal consequences with using the term genocide and, perhaps more importantly, moral concerns with calling such horrific actions what they really are.

Based on the evidence it seems clear that what is occurring in Xinjiang, China is genocide.  According to the U.N. definition, just one criteria is sufficient for genocide.  China undoubtedly meets one of the criteria and arguably meets all five.  If it is genocide, then it should lead to changes in behavior.  Countries, companies and organizations should refuse to do business with China.  Universities, such as the one I teach at, should end relationships with government sponsored education programs, like Confucius Institutes.  The United Nations and the WTO should suspend China from their organizations and countries should suspend diplomatic relations.  The EU, United States, Japan, South Korea and others should place strict economic sanctions on China.  These all would be more than symbolic moves in a culture war.  Such actions would demonstrate to China their behavior is unacceptable.  The international community, individual countries, businesses, educational institutions and individuals need to speak truly and give the phrase “never again” meaning.  Equivocating, delaying and ignoring is morally unacceptable.  Genocide is genocide and it’s time we started acting appropriately.

If you are looking for more background information about the Uighur group this report is succinct and useful.

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