• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Democracy Chronicles

Towards better democracy everywhere.

  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy
You are here: Home / Democracy News Headlines / International Democracy / China’s Stage-Managed Xinjiang Tour Fooled No One

China’s Stage-Managed Xinjiang Tour Fooled No One

January 8, 2019 by DC Editors Leave a Comment

FacebookLinkedInPin1TweetShare1

China’s Stage-Managed Xinjiang Tour

From Human Rights Watch

China’s authorities recently escorted diplomats from a dozen countries and a handful of foreign journalists on a highly controlled visit to Xinjiang, the northwestern region where an estimated one million Turkic Muslims are being arbitrarily and indefinitely detained. Human Rights Watch has documented forced political indoctrination and ill-treatment in these “political education” camps, and tight surveillance and control over the everyday life of Xinjiang’s 13 million Turkic Muslim residents, all with the goal of enforcing loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.

Beijing doubtlessly invited Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan – many of them Muslim-majority countries and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states – to deflect growing global criticism over its numerous human rights violations in Xinjiang. It’s not evident how – or if – those governments or the OIC, many of which have not yet spoken publicly about Xinjiang, will respond to this human rights crisis having completed their stage-managed trip.

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Human Rights Watch, and others have been calling for months for access to the region to assess the scope and scale of abuses. But Beijing has a long history of diplomatic dog-and-pony shows, and the diplomats’ visit is no substitute for a credible, independent assessment.

Beijing has now tentatively suggested that the UN is welcome to visit Xinjiang, but it’s critical to spell out ground rules. The authorities would need to allow diplomats and independent experts free and unfettered access, especially to whichever camps or other facilities they wanted to inspect – not simply the “vocational training” facilities Beijing insists it’s running for willing and enthusiastic participants. It would have to tolerate private interviews with anyone in the region willing to talk, with guarantees of no reprisals against that individual or their family members inside or outside China. UN experts should report their findings and concerns to UN member states and make those assessments public; governments sending diplomats should also make as much of their information as possible publicly available. All involved should make clear to Beijing that the abuse of its Turkic Muslim population is unacceptable and unlawful and should end immediately.

In other words, meaningful access to Xinjiang requires independent experts and diplomats seeing what Beijing does not want them to see. Anything less enables China’s whitewash.

FacebookLinkedInPin1TweetShare1

Filed Under: International Democracy Tagged With: Asia, China, Dictatorships, Journalism and Free Speech, Uyghur People

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

About DC Editors

We are your source for news on the all important effort to establish and strengthen democracy across the globe. Our international team with dozens of independent authors are your gateway into the raging struggle for free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States. See our Facebook Page and also follow us on Twitter @demchron.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

democracy chronicles newsletter

american democracy around the web

  • Belarusian authorities detain at least two Ra...
    Source: Committee to Protect Journalists Published on: 2 hours ago
  • “Small segment of voters will wield outsize p...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 3 hours ago
  • “Exclusive: Pro-Trump lawyer Kenneth Chesebro...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 3 hours ago
  • “Appeals Court Upholds, but Narrows, Gag Orde...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 4 hours ago
  • Indispensable Resource from Federal Judicial...
    Source: Election Law Blog Published on: 8 hours ago