{"id":4254,"date":"2018-10-23T14:40:48","date_gmt":"2018-10-23T14:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2018\/10\/23\/learn-chinese-study-law-play-tt-first-details-emerge-xinjiangs-uyghur-camps\/"},"modified":"2018-10-23T14:40:48","modified_gmt":"2018-10-23T14:40:48","slug":"learn-chinese-study-law-play-tt-first-details-emerge-xinjiangs-uyghur-camps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/learn-chinese-study-law-play-tt-first-details-emerge-xinjiangs-uyghur-camps\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn Chinese, study law, play TT – first details emerge from Xinjiang’s Uyghur camps"},"content":{"rendered":"

A top Chinese official has for the first time given details of sprawling internment camps for Uyghur Muslims in the remote Xinjiang <\/span>rehgion<\/span>, saying the \u201cvocational training institutes\u201d focus on teaching Mandarin, law <\/span>and<\/span> anti-extremism to inmates.<\/span><\/p>\n

The state media interview with Shohrat Zakir, the number two Communist party official and most senior Uighur in Xinjiang, is China\u2019s latest attempt to counter mounting global criticism of the camps, whose existence was denied by Beijing until weeks ago.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, Xinjiang has established a training model with professional vocational training institutions as the platform, learning the country\u2019s common language, legal knowledge, vocational skills, along with de-<\/span>extremisation<\/span> education, as the main content, with achieving employment as the key direction,\u201d said Zakir, chairperson of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid mounting international pressure, it was only last week that China sought to <\/span>legalise<\/span> the camps as \u201cvocational training institutes\u201d, where inmates influenced by religious extremism are reeducated and transformed.<\/span><\/p>\n

A UN human rights body has been vocal in its criticism of the camps, saying they target the minority Uighur community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zakir didn\u2019t specify how many camps had been set up or how many people are currently in them. Rights groups have estimated that hundreds of thousands have been sent to the camps for <\/span>reeducation<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also didn\u2019t talk about detention in the <\/span>camps,<\/span> but explained how inmates could be selected for \u201cvocational training institutes\u201d in carefully chosen words.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs for most people who are influenced by terrorism and extremism, those suspected of minor criminal offences but do not have to be subject to penalties or can be exempted from criminal punishment, Xinjiang has provided them with free vocational training through vocational education institutions to improve their ability in commanding the country\u2019s common language, acquiring legal knowledge and vocational skills\u2026,\u201d Zakir told the official news agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said despite the significant progress Xinjiang has made in countering terrorism and extremism, it remains a long-standing, complicated and serious issue that calls for a high state of alert.<\/span><\/p>\n

He <\/span>added<\/span> \u201cfour prefectures in southern Xinjiang were threatened by terrorism and seriously influenced by the spread of religious extremism\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zakir\u2019s interview was published on Tuesday, days after senior Communist Party leader You Quan said during a visit to Xinjiang that \u201c<\/span>sinicisation<\/span> of religion must be upheld to promote ethnic solidarity and religious harmony\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe party\u2019s leadership over religious work must be upheld,\u201d You was quoted as saying by official Xinhua news agency. He also <\/span>said<\/span> \u201cthe infiltration of religious extremism must be guarded against\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s apparently not all work and no play at the camps.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe cafeteria prepares nutritious free diets, and the dormitories are fully equipped with radio, TV, air-conditioning, bathroom <\/span>and<\/span> shower. Indoor and outdoor sports venues for basketball, volleyball and table tennis have been built, along with reading rooms, computer labs, film screening rooms, as well as performance venues such as small auditoriums and open-air stages,\u201d Zakir said.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Zakir, many inmates have said they didn\u2019t know \u201clife can be so <\/span>colourful<\/span>\u201d after taking part in speech, dancing and singing contests.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reports of mass detentions and strict surveillance of Uighurs and other Muslims have prompted the US to consider sanctions against Chinese officials and companies linked to rights abuses.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n
Source: Hindustan Times<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A top Chinese official has for the first time given details of sprawling internment camps for Uyghur Muslims in the remote Xinjiang rehgion, saying the \u201cvocational training institutes\u201d focus on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-4254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4254"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=4254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}