The Quiet Genocide

Photo by Izhar Khan (Pexels)

Enough is enough.

Few things chill the world to its core as thoroughly as the systematic extermination of a people. It goes without saying that man’s capacity for killing is most prevalent in genocide. The twentieth century is largely characterized by atrocities of this nature, the systematic cleansing of society from a scourge that is identified by an ideologically motivated organizer. So, what happens when an ideology that emphasizes radical uniformity and statist subjugation encounters a people that do not participate in its state mandated groupthink? More specifically, what happens when a high-tech totalitarian government deems an ethnic and ideological minority a “threat?” To answer that question, one need not look further than the Xinjiang region of China.

Since 2014, the Chinese Communist Party has been engaged in both ethnic and ideological cleansing, or as the state prefers to call it a “war on terror.” In joining the international community in its attempts to combat the rise of Islamic terror, the Chinese government has in fact been up to something far more sinister. Under the leadership of General Secretary Xi Jinping and regional leader of Xinjiang, Chen Quango — appointed in Summer of 2016 — China’s Uighur population has been funneled into, what the state calls, “reeducation camps.” These camps are nothing less than gulags for innocent men, women, and children of Uighur decent and Muslim faith. What the Communist Party in China refers to as “extremism eradication” is eerily similar to the early stages of Nazi concentration camps.

“In a society where everything and everyone is subordinate to the State, the State can — and will — do whatever it deems necessary to ensure its longevity.”

These camps feature high levels of complex, technological security measures. Utilizing facial recognition, DNA databases, and thousands of state employed security personnel the Chinese government is ensuring that any of the Uighur that they arbitrarily deem “unreliable” will be categorized and accounted for within these dystopian detention centers. There is no due process, whatsoever, involved. If the Party deems someone a threat, they will be treated as such regardless of any contrary evidence. Individuals may be detained for something as trivial as traveling to a Muslim majority country or going on a religious pilgrimage.

Once admitted, the Uighur are subjected to a series of “treatments” that — in the words of General Secretary Jinping — will “Enhance their sense of identity with the motherland, the Chinese nation, Chinese culture, the CCP and socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Prisoners are subjected to political indoctrination and brainwashing. One survivor of the camps recounts being forced to study Communist propaganda for several hours every day, and those who did not fall in line were subject to physical and mental torture. In addition to this, prisoners are forced to violate the laws of their religion and engage in self-humiliation. Not only is this egregious treatment of civilians occurring, it is occurring in large quantities. Estimates suggest that there is anywhere from 120,000 to one million Uighur that are being subjected to this at any given time.

“It is unclear how many of the Uighur have passed through these camps, and their fate remains just as unclear.”

Why is this happening? In typical Marxist fashion, The Communist Party of China has deemed that this ethnic and religious minority might pose a threat to the state. In a society where everything and everyone is subordinate to the State, the State can — and will — do whatever it deems necessary to ensure its longevity. This is an on-gong crisis, and it has been in effect for years. It is unclear how many of the Uighur have passed through these camps, and their fate remains just as unclear. Much to the delight of the late Chairman Mao, the Chinese government is once again imprisoning, torturing, and killing ideological dissidents. The Party is systematically liquidating an ethnic group that opposes the narrative of State deification.

The twentieth century was largely characterized by genocide. Millions of innocents — and noncombatants — were slaughtered because they had the misfortune of belonging to an ethnic, or ideological, group whose existence opposed the narrative of the powers that be. With anniversary of two significant twentieth century events occurring this week, the 30th of the Tienanmen Square Massacre and the 75th of the Invasion of Normandy, we are reminded of the gruesome nature of tyranny and how strenuously and desperately we must fight to cast it off.

There has been very little media coverage — or discourse of any kind — of the camps in the Xinjiang region. This is due to the highly secretive nature of the Chinese government in this endeavor, but is also largely due to the fact that it does not coincide with the ideological narrative of American media. After all, why cover an actual ongoing, massive humanitarian crisis when President Trump tweeted something about the Democrats?

Follow this author on Twitter: @SavorySizzam

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