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Context
Uighurs, made up of Turkic Muslims, are the dominant ethnic group in Xinjiang, China making up less than 1% of the Chinese population. For several centuries, their history has involved separation from the Han Chinese majority and clashes with the Chinese state powers over Muslim freedom. After 9/11, The War on Terror that President George Bush initiated was then co-opted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who labeled all opposition to Chinese rule as evil Islamic Terrorism. In 2009 the tension between the Uighurs and the Han reached a boiling point over frustrations with the CCP policies for minorities, leading to a huge clash. Since then, the CCP has further encroached on the Uighurs by creating “re-education camps” viewing all Uighurs as potential terrorists, extremists, and separatists.
In the following posts below I will outline the three facets of social death which are: (1) Us-them thinking, (2) dehumanization of the victims, and (3) blaming the victims.
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(1) Us-Them Thinking
“Exaggeration of out group differences termed the accentuation effect”(Waller 240)
This image is an example of the tension between the Uighur population and those in the Han ethnic group who makeup 90% of the Chinese population and have the dominant culture in society. Comparison images associate the Han ethnicity with happiness, cleanliness, and success while Uighurs are ill-informed, dirty, and headed down the wrong path.
Ordinary Han citizens have become involved with the extreme surveillance of their Uighur neighbors, oppressing Uighurs in different ways due to the authorities ramping up scrutiny of all Muslim groups in the region. Han individuals are encouraged to to report their neighbors if they behave “suspiciously” — taking basic actions such as Uighurs failing to socialize or them fundraising for a local mosque as unacceptable behavior standing out from Han culture.
Uighurs are therefore pushed into silence to avoid detention and further peril that would await them in “re-education” camps.
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(2) Dehumanization of victims
“Justifies or rationalizes extraordinary evil, since victims are often depicted as highly threatening, so extreme measures are put in place to avert the potential danger they represent” (Waller 249)
Uighurs are viewed as vessels of which they must be filled with strictly Han Chinese literature and values, undergoing a cultural genocide which is the the forced assimilation of an indigenous group with the aim of eliminating its cultural distinctness. They are detained in camps to receive “vocational training” where they must renounce their culture and take ideological indoctrination courses where they must learn Mandarin Chinese, recite laws banning any unapproved religious practice and sing songs praising the CCP.
Alarmingly, the birth rate of Uighurs has drastically fallen due to forced use of IUDS, sterilizations, and abortions to permanently erase their lineage and the so called threat of home-grown terrorists.
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(3) Blaming the victims
Uighurs are regarded as terrorists in the Chinese media who are seeking to separate the city Xinjiang from the rest of China and create a nation reigned with violent Islamist extremism. Chinese government treats them as if they are innately predisposed to extremist tendencies and at risk of succumbing to extremism through Islam.
Han citizens participate in what is viewed as a just world,
“associated with rigid application of social rules and belief in the importance of convention” (Waller 252)
to flag what is perceived as non-Han behavior while effectively disregarding the well-being of their Uighur Neighbors.
Furthermore as a cover up, Chinese media portrays this ethnic cleansing as a positive doing to address a mental health crisis where Uighurs supposedly need invasive psychological treatment to correct any hazardous thoughts.
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Above is a video of Uighurs forcibly being bussed to work.
To rationalize victim blaming, Chinese officials controlling Uighurs
“make the victim[s] seem unworthy whose punishment was inevitable by [their] own deficiencies of intellect and character”. (Waller 251)
“Turn around their ingrained lazy…slow, sloppy, freewheeling, individualistic ways so they obey company rules”
Here the directive of the labor bureau of Qapqal (a county in Xinjiang) speaking of the military-style training Uighurs undergo to convert them into obedient workers.
Alongside the indoctrination camps are labor camps far from home where Uighurs are coerced into making clothes, shoes, and other similar jobs, forcibly acting as a driving force in the Chinese economy.
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Chinese propaganda
Here is an example of symbolic annihilation where a
“social group in power erases social groups through silence and misrepresentation” (Gross 190).
China made a 'La La Land'-inspired propaganda musical about the life of Uighur Muslims, which erases any mention of mass surveillance and oppression of the Uighurs left behind from their family members detained in camps, furthermore portraying uighurs as happily assimilating in Xinjiang. It’s hidden that the Uighur community has been forced into obedience and silence, being emptied of its men, women, and children.
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How I would address the crisis through communication
Communication through the media is extremely valuable in countering a dehumanizing portrayal of the Uighurs and increasing international pressure on the Chinese government.
It is important that the voices of Uighur survivors who have been kidnapped and forced to assimilate to Han culture are heard and validated in order to counter the silence of the CCP and Chinese media. This would entail increased representation in the mainstream media, if I had the opportunity to speak with Uighurs as a journalist, I would incorporate their stories terms of documentaries and articles. In addition, Uighurs need to see that they are supported by other nations, so on social media I would share images of people around the world protesting this immense human rights violation.
The second image refers to the boycotting of Mulan, the new live-action Disney film, in part because filming of the movie occured in Xinjiang where one million Uighurs are tortured and we can see a clear example of a big corporation being complacent with the CCP agenda.
On Instagram I shared my support in boycotting this movie and shared an educational post on my story urging my followers to educate themselves and follow suit with boycotting.
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