{"id":4498,"date":"2018-11-17T19:42:25","date_gmt":"2018-11-17T19:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2018\/11\/17\/why-chinese-civil-servants-are-happy-occupy-uyghur-homes-xinjiang-0\/"},"modified":"2018-11-17T19:42:25","modified_gmt":"2018-11-17T19:42:25","slug":"why-chinese-civil-servants-are-happy-occupy-uyghur-homes-xinjiang-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/why-chinese-civil-servants-are-happy-occupy-uyghur-homes-xinjiang-0\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Chinese civil servants are happy to occupy Uyghur homes in Xinjiang"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"zn zn-body-text zn-body zn--idx-0 zn--ordinary zn-has-multiple-containers zn-has-29-containers\" data-containers=\"29\" data-eq-pts=\"xsmall: 0, medium: 460, large: 780, full16x9: 1100\" data-eq-state=\"xsmall medium large\" data-vr-zone=\"zone-1-0\" data-zn-id=\"body-text\" data-zone-label=\"bodyText\" id=\"body-text\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; padding: 20px 0px 0px; overflow: hidden;\">\n<div class=\"l-container\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 1100px;\">\n<div class=\"el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<p class=\"zn-body__paragraph speakable\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><cite class=\"el-editorial-source\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700;\">(CNN)<\/cite>Over the past two years, news of the mass detention of&nbsp;Muslim-majority Uyghurs&nbsp;has slowly filtered out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Western China.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph speakable\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">These reports have coalesced into the outlines of a nightmarish system of massive prison camps and AI-enabled surveillance systems. Uyghurs, a group of nearly 11 million people who are native to Central Asia, have come to refer to themselves as a &#8220;people destroyed.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph speakable\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Chinese authorities have described their project to re-engineer Uyghur society as a response to religious &#8220;extremism&#8221; and the threat of terrorism. In the absence of a free press, stories of&nbsp;violent attacks by Uyghurs&nbsp;have been amplified far beyond all evidence of resistance to state control.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<ul class=\"cn cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-4 cn-zoneAdContainer\" data-layout=\"list-hierarchical-xs\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; list-style-type: none; list-style-image: initial;\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Up to one million Uyghurs are estimated to be imprisoned inside the camps, according to the scholar Adrian Zenz and Human Rights Watch. Beijing denies the camps are detention centers and instead claims they are &#8220;vocational training centers,&#8221; which students are happy to attend.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Amid the growing outrage over the camps around the world,&nbsp;more than one million government workers, mostly members of China&#8217;s ethnic Han majority, have been&nbsp;quietly&nbsp;sent to Uyghur homes to monitor and assess Uyghur resistance to this process.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__read-all\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">These &#8220;relatives,&#8221; as they have been trained to call themselves, are part of an effort to fully assimilate the Uyghur population by undermining things as basic as religion and language, family structure and food culture.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"el__embedded el__embedded--standard\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 780px; z-index: 0;\">\n<div class=\"el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-right: 30px; clear: both; cursor: default; margin-bottom: 30px; width: 300px; margin-top: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"el__article--teaseimage\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/05\/14\/asia\/china-xinjiang-home-stays-intl\/index.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 101, 152); transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Chinese Uyghurs forced to welcome Communist Party into their homes\" class=\"media__image media__image--responsive\" data-demand-load=\"loaded\" data-eq-pts=\"mini: 0,  xsmall: 221,  small: 308,  medium: 461,  large:  781\" data-eq-state=\"mini xsmall\" data-src-full16x9=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-full-169.jpg\" data-src-large=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-super-169.jpg\" data-src-medium=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-exlarge-169.jpg\" data-src-mini=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-small-169.jpg\" data-src-mini1x1=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-small-11.jpg\" data-src-small=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-large-169.jpg\" data-src-xsmall=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-medium-plus-169.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/180514162221-xinjiang-xi-jinping-poster-medium-plus-169.jpg\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; width: 300px;\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"img__preloader\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"media__caption el__storyelement__title\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.06667rem; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 30px; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); position: relative;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span class=\"el__storyelement__header\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.5;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/05\/14\/asia\/china-xinjiang-home-stays-intl\/index.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;\">Chinese Uyghurs forced to welcome <\/a><\/span><\/span><span class=\"el__storyelement__header\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.06667rem; line-height: 1.5;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/05\/14\/asia\/china-xinjiang-home-stays-intl\/index.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Communist<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span class=\"el__storyelement__header\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.5;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/05\/14\/asia\/china-xinjiang-home-stays-intl\/index.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;\"> Party into their homes<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Reports of the home stay system published in state media said the visits would &#8220;enhance ethnic unity,&#8221; with pictures posted of Communist Party members posing smiling with Uyghur families.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">When I visited the region in April 2018 I met a number of these Han civil servants. I asked them to tell me about their work and what they thought about it.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Through my <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">research<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> I found that these &#8220;relatives&#8221; have been given two major tasks when they arrive in Uyghur homes. Their first priority is <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">fact finding<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">. They are tasked with uncovering religious and ethnic nationalist attitudes. They also attempt to understand the loyalties Uyghurs have to family members that have been detained.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">The manual that is used by &#8220;relatives&#8221; in Kashgar prefecture advocates asking Uyghur children questions regarding sensitive issues since &#8220;they will tell the truth.&#8221; The information they gleaned through this process is then entered into digital security systems, where higher-level authorities determine who should be sent to the camp system.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">The second priority for the &#8220;relatives&#8221; is what they refer to as &#8220;showing warmth&#8221; or care to Uyghurs.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">In echoes of American military attempts to &#8220;win the hearts and minds&#8221; of Afghans and Iraqis in the first decade of a related &#8220;War on Terror,&#8221; this approach centers on showing sympathy regarding Uyghur living circumstances and asking questions regarding things that would improve their lives.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"el__embedded el__embedded--fullwidth\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 780px; z-index: 0;\">\n<div class=\"el__image--fullwidth js__image--fullwidth\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; width: 780px;\">\n<div style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo taken on July 2, 2018, shows a man walking past a wall bearing a China Communist Party slogan in Kashgar.\" class=\"media__image media__image--responsive\" data-demand-load=\"loaded\" data-eq-pts=\"mini: 0,  xsmall: 221,  small: 308,  medium: 461,  large:  781\" data-eq-state=\"mini xsmall small medium\" data-src-full16x9=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-full-169.jpg\" data-src-large=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-super-169.jpg\" data-src-medium=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-exlarge-169.jpg\" data-src-mini=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-small-169.jpg\" data-src-mini1x1=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-small-11.jpg\" data-src-small=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-large-169.jpg\" data-src-xsmall=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-medium-plus-169.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181101100203-xinjiang-kashgar-0702-01-exlarge-169.jpg\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; width: 780px;\"><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"img__preloader\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div class=\"media__caption el__gallery_image-title\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.06667rem; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 30px; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"element-raw appearance-fullwidth\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Photo taken on July 2, 2018, shows a man walking past a wall bearing a China Communist Party slogan in Kashgar.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Of course, this form of care does not include extending sympathy for missing and detained family members. The manual they used in Kashgar Prefecture warned against this. It told them to be careful not to be &#8220;brainwashed&#8221; into sympathizing with Uyghur families.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">I found that it was difficult for the majority of the civil servants I spoke with to place themselves in the position of the Uyghurs whose lives and <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">society<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> they were destroying. They saw the type of violent paternalism they were engaged in as necessary to find a solution to what they called the &#8220;Xinjiang problem.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Many of them believed that dominating all aspects of Uyghur life was the only way to move forward with the project of the Chinese nation.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">George Orwell has argued that when people come to believe in the necessity of their dominance they often become obsessed with disrespect on the part of others. Their domination needs to be loved. In such a state, Orwell notes, &#8220;actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"el__embedded el__embedded--standard\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; position: relative; width: 780px; z-index: 0;\">\n<div class=\"el__storyelement--standard el__article--embed\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin-right: 30px; clear: both; cursor: default; margin-bottom: 30px; width: 300px; margin-top: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"el__article--teaseimage\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/11\/06\/asia\/xinjiang-uyghur-crackdown-china-intl\/index.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(0, 101, 152); transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Uyghur crackdown in Xinjiang doubles security spending in one year\" class=\"media__image media__image--responsive\" data-demand-load=\"loaded\" data-eq-pts=\"mini: 0,  xsmall: 221,  small: 308,  medium: 461,  large:  781\" data-eq-state=\"mini xsmall\" data-src-full16x9=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-full-169.jpg\" data-src-large=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-super-169.jpg\" data-src-medium=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-exlarge-169.jpg\" data-src-mini=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-small-169.jpg\" data-src-mini1x1=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-small-11.jpg\" data-src-small=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-large-169.jpg\" data-src-xsmall=\"\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-medium-plus-169.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.cnn.com\/cnnnext\/dam\/assets\/181011120248-xinjiang-military-police-oath-2017-0227-01-medium-plus-169.jpg\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; width: 300px;\"><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"img__preloader\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box;\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"media__caption el__storyelement__title\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.06667rem; line-height: 1.375; margin-top: 30px; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); position: relative;\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"><span class=\"el__storyelement__header\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; display: block; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.5;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2018\/11\/06\/asia\/xinjiang-uyghur-crackdown-china-intl\/index.html\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(89, 89, 89); transition: color 0.2s ease 0s;\">Uyghur crackdown in Xinjiang doubles security spending in one year<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Under such conditions outrages such as imprisonment without trial, the removal of children and the occupation of minority homes are viewed as normal and necessary. &nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Many of the Han civilians who were involved in the broad Uyghur reeducation effort, particularly the most recent arrivals in Xinjiang, told me that they saw themselves as building a kind of secular Han nationalism. And this impulse, combined with the totalitarian control of the Chinese leadership, made the question of the ethics of the camp system an even harder question to ask.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">For <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">them<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> it was easier to say that in the end this painful, yet banal, <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">process<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> would be a long-term benefit to Xinjiang&#8217;s Uyghurs and Kazakhs &#8212; another Muslim ethnic minority in the region. After all, through this <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">process<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> Xinjiang would become secular and safe for Han people.<\/span><\/div>\n<ul class=\"cn cn-list-hierarchical-xs cn--idx-25 cn-zoneAdContainer\" data-layout=\"list-hierarchical-xs\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; list-style-type: none; list-style-image: initial;\"><\/ul>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">Many &#8220;relatives&#8221; believed they had sacrificed their time and energy in reeducating Muslims, and in <\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">return<\/span><span style=\"font-size:14px;\"> they believed they deserve to be embraced by their Uyghur and Kazakh &#8220;little brothers and sisters.&#8221; They were not able to think about the effects of what they are doing from the perspective of their Muslim neighbors.&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"zn-body__paragraph\" style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; font-family: CNN, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 1.2rem; line-height: 1.66667; color: rgb(38, 38, 38);\"><span style=\"font-size:14px;\">As Hannah Arendt observed decades ago about systems of mass oppression elsewhere, the banality of Uyghur unfreedom was simply a product of those in power &#8220;doing their jobs.&#8221; Until Han &#8220;relatives&#8221; can confront what they have been forced to enact, resistance to the state-directed human engineering project in Xinjiang will remain unthinkable.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(CNN)Over the past two years, news of the mass detention of&nbsp;Muslim-majority Uyghurs&nbsp;has slowly filtered out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Western China.&nbsp; These reports have coalesced into the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-4498","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\/4498","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=4498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4498"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=4498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}