The Chinese regime wasted no time after the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris to call on the world to support its own brand of \u201ccounterterrorism\u201d by helping it suppress the Uyghur minority group in Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan.<\/p>\n
By Joshua Philipp
November 24, 2015<\/p>\n
The Chinese regime wasted no time after the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris to call on the world to support its own brand of \u201ccounterterrorism\u201d by helping it suppress the Uyghur minority group in Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan.<\/p>\n
The Chinese regime is stepping up its suppression of the region, mainly for business. Its new \u201cSilk Road Economic Belt\u201d that will build a trade route into Europe will pass through the region.<\/p>\n
After the Paris attacks, Xinhua, the official state mouthpiece, quoted Chinese diplomat Wang Yi saying \u201cChina is also a victim of terrorism,\u201d and that \u201cCracking down on the \u2018East Turkestan\u2019 terrorist forces\u201d should become \u201can important component of international counterterrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
While his statements went largely ignored in political circles, where the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s (CCP) abuses of Uyghurs are generally known, some news outlets got caught in the stream of propaganda that has followed.<\/p>\n
The most glaring example is a feature in TIME about the \u201cMen and Women Who Fight China\u2019s Shadowy \u2018Anti-Terrorist\u2019 War.\u201d The odd piece says that after the Paris attacks, members of the CCP\u2019s special forces spoke with TIME and started writing on social media about \u201ctheir own battles.\u201d<\/p>\n
TIME goes over many of the questionable \u201cterrorist attacks\u201d China has faced, and while the piece notes some of the uncertainties around some of the incidents, it still comes off as a promotional piece for human rights abuse.<\/p>\n
It shares the same news element as an official Xinhua piece, saying that police in Xinjiang arrested a group of 28 alleged terrorists they say killed 11 people at a coal mine. It seems to be part of a larger propaganda push, which has seen glamour shots of \u201canti-terror\u201d Chinese soldiers and police forces posing together.<\/p>\n
The TIME carries this same element with many heroic-sounding quotes from people carrying out the CCP\u2019s harsh suppression in Xinjiang. Among them is a self-proclaimed member of the Chinese \u201canti-terror\u201d police force who wrote on social media he\u2019s fighting \u201cReligious radicals and separatists are trying to alienate the Uighur from the Han people.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also claims \u201cSome foreign forces, such as the Turkish and American democracy foundations, are also supporting the radicals and separatists.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the information may sound convincing on its face, a bit of research shows what\u2019s behind these statements.<\/p>\n
The CCP has what it calls the \u201cthree evils\u201d of extremism, separatism, and terrorism. While fighting terrorism may sound fine to us in the West, in China its implications are much different. The main push in the CCP\u2019s campaign isn\u2019t to fight terrorism. Instead, it\u2019s designed to stop terrorist elements from taking root in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n
The \u201cthree evils\u201d phrase brands a desire for cultural independence as \u201cseparatism\u201d and calls any forms of resistance \u201cextremism\u201d and \u201cterrorism.\u201d Western leaders have broadly not acknowledged incidents involving Uyghurs as terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n