For the past year, international alarm over China’s abuse of Uyghurs has been heightened by reports of targeted birth control. A New York Times report confirms that even as birth restrictions have loosened in much of China, they have tightened and become more coercive for Muslims in Xinjiang.
After Canada and the Netherlands, the U.K. has become the third country to pass a nonbinding motion in parliament declaring China’s treatment of Uyghurs as “genocide.”
Facebook employees are raising concerns about the Chinese government’s use of ad money to promote propaganda about happy Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the Wall Street Journal reports. Might Facebook eventually follow Twitter in restricting political advertisements in response?
After the U.K. joined the EU, U.S., and Canada early this week in coordinated sanctions and condemnation over China’s abuses in Xinjiang, Beijing issued counter-sanctions on nine British individuals and four entities.
Beijing wants to play a bigger role in the Middle East and the region’s complicated geopolitics. It’s not just about oil: Saudi Arabia, for example, is supplying China with not just energy security, but also political cover for its policies in Xinjiang.
The Chinese and Russian foreign ministers condemned Western nations for “politicizing human rights issues” with sanctions. Beijing separately lashed out at “the West,” accusing at least half a dozen nations of hypocrisy and saying they had no right to lecture China.
Today, the European Union issued its first sanctions on China since 1989, condemning Beijing’s abuse of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Canada, Britain, and the U.S. also issued new Xinjiang-focused sanctions. Beijing immediately retaliated against the EU with sanctions of its own.
Protecting the Uyghurs isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s also good politics.
A new wave of Chinese propaganda, pushing back on claims of genocide and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, is being promoted widely in Africa. Here are a few reasons why Africa might be a focus of this messaging campaign.