In 2014, China opened multiple “re-education camps” in the northwest region of Xinjiang to “re-educate” the Islamic minority populations in the region. There has been an increased rate of intensity at which Chinese authorities have moved Uighurs and other Muslim minorities into the camps where they are heavily surveilled, with checkpoints every 10 feet and A.I.-tracking via cameras, in the last two years.
Fast forward to today, further restrictions have been placed upon the Uighur minority in camps throughout Xinjiang escalating the already present methods of surveillance. Simultaneously, Chinese authorities have authorized the destruction of mosques that exhibit particularly Islamic features such as domes and spires throughout the northwest region. Implementing a more thorough process in Xinjiang allowed for the expansion of the practices to occur outside of the region. The Chinese continually defend their actions by reiterating that their purpose is to combat extremism in the country and an expressed fear that religion will undermine the Communist Party’s leadership.
International outrage is frequently rekindled; however, foreign governments are unwilling to take action over the human rights abuses on account of economic retributions. Reporters and foreign government officials are allowed to visit the camps though many of them have only written favorable reports of the situation. On two separate occasions foreign diplomats, one a European Union diplomat and the second a Malaysian diplomat, wrote reports detailing the inhumane situations that the Chinese government has subjected the Uighurs to. However, the Malaysian government chose to ignore the report of their diplomat to amass better economic relations with China after a billion-dollar deal fell through the cracks.
A more substantial case of foreign powers not condemning China for fear of economic reprisals is Turkey. Turkey, more specifically President Erdogan, is a vocal advocate of the protection of Turkic descended people and practicing Muslims. However, he has turned a blind eye to the abuse of the Uighurs in Xinjiang. Turkey is part of negotiations to have the infrastructure for the “One Belt, One Road” initiative run through the country and there has also been a tremendous amount of Chinese investments in the country recently. With the recent economic downturn, Turkey, following the rest of the world, remained quiet about the “re-education camps” to avoid the repercussions of Chinese economic support withdrawal.
Currently, the United States is the only country publicly releasing statements about the Chinese treatment of the Uighurs. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has spoken out against the treatment of the Uighur minority on multiple occasions, most recently ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. Pompeo expressed that the country was choosing to erase a sector of their society and none of the policies China had enacted in Xinjiang concerned terrorism.
Jointly, a group of 22 mostly western nations, including Japan, signed a letter calling on China to close the “re-education camps” at a United Nations Human Rights Council meeting this past summer. China retaliated quickly, in an attempt to outmaneuver, with a letter that openly praised China’s human rights record signed by 34 nations including Saudi Arabia and Russia. Consequently, the outcome of the letters produced no substantive action in changing the situation of the Uighurs. There has not been an actual case of China punishing a country through economic retributions yet. Ultimately though China, as the second-largest economy in the world, keeps many countries in fear that speaking out directly about the treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities will lead to failed economic deals with China. Unfortunately, many countries believe they cannot lose on economic gains even if human rights abuses continue to exist.
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