{"id":4511,"date":"2018-11-18T20:49:11","date_gmt":"2018-11-18T20:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2018\/11\/18\/basketball-and-happy-kids-photos-xinjiangs-detention-camps-beijing-wants-world-see\/"},"modified":"2018-11-18T20:49:11","modified_gmt":"2018-11-18T20:49:11","slug":"basketball-and-happy-kids-photos-xinjiangs-detention-camps-beijing-wants-world-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/basketball-and-happy-kids-photos-xinjiangs-detention-camps-beijing-wants-world-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball and happy kids: The photos of Xinjiang\u2019s detention camps Beijing wants the world to see"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new, full-throated defense by China of its mass incarceration of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang is in full swing.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past two weeks, Beijing has changed its tune<\/a> from denying the existence of detention camps\u2014where as many as a million<\/a> Uyghurs could be held\u2014to <\/span>presenting<\/span> them as fun, educational, even voluntary places where people are merely learning new skills to improve their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beijing\u2019s public relations offensive is a sign that it wants to wrest back control of the narrative over Xinjiang amid growing international pressure on the government to explain what is happening to the Uyghur minority there. Earlier this month, for example, members of the US Congress including Marco Rubio said they would nominate<\/a> a prominent Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti, who has been in prison since 2014, for the Nobel Peace Prize. And in August reports criticizing China\u2019s treatment of Uyghurs came up for discussion before a UN rights panel<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n

China\u2019s defense of such camps centers around the argument that they are necessary to prevent the spread of religious extremism in the far western region, which in the past has seen violent incidents break out between the Uyghur population and the Han Chinese. China\u2019s majority group has been migrating to Xinjiang in large numbers over decades, such that the region\u2019s capital Urumqi is now<\/a> a Han-dominated city.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a recent interview<\/a> with state media, Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, said the camps were part of a \u201cvocational education and training program\u201d providing \u201cde-extremization education\u201d for free. The program also involves comprehensive learning of Mandarin, Chinese history, and the Chinese constitution. Detainees are provided training in a wide variety of vocational courses including garment making, mobile-phone assembly, and e-commerce, while leisure activities range from ball games to film screenings.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany trainees have said that they were previously affected by extremist thought and had never participated in such kinds of art and sports activities, and now they have realized that life can be so colorful,\u201d said Zakir.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
\"View<\/a>\"View<\/a>\"View<\/a>\"View<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n
Global Times<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
 <\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n