As Xinjiang makes international news, China’s counterattacks against the US miss the mark

Beijing is right that US history is far from blameless and Washington is overzealous in labelling China a ‘threat’

That doesn’t change the fact that its Xinjiang policies are indefensible and will only make it more vulnerable to terrorist attacks

Reading Time:3 minutes

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has recently taken to Twitter to aggressively defend her country from US criticism, including over Xinjiang. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 1:00am, 10 Dec 2019Updated: 4:38am, 10 Dec 2019

Three years and no terrorist attacks. And remember the misery of Native Americans.

We went from the Chinese government’s denial that it had set up camps for Uygurs to this justification after their existence could no longer be covered up.

This is all the Chinese government has left, effectively confirming their programme of mass cultural indoctrination. There are many disturbing facets of this effort that have been reported but not easily confirmed.

So, we’re left to seek truth from facts. And the key facts come down to photos of sprawling, windowless buildings surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers, which leave no doubt that those inside are there against their will.

Beijing will find it very difficult to achieve its foreign policy goals until it finds a more humane way to address the threat that the Xinjiang internment camps are meant to address

Global attention to this will not go away and, as concern escalates about the future of China’s Uygur community, it should be understood that the people who are the most trapped by this programme are the ones who created it.

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