Opinion | Why Chinese feel free to dismiss America’s human rights concerns in Xinjiang

The anti-imperialist language adopted by China should remind US policymakers why they have failed to convince the world of human rights abuses in Xinjiang

America’s foreign policy double standards have given Beijing an excuse to practise ‘whataboutism’ as well as undermined the credibility of its claims

Reading Time:3 minutes

A perimeter fence surrounds what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:00am, 31 Mar 2021Updated: 1:48am, 31 Mar 2021

Retailers such as H&M and Nike are facing fury and boycotts from China after expressing concerns over the use of forced labour in Xinjiang’s cotton fields. As of last Friday, the hashtag #ISupportXinjiangCotton has received 4.5 billion views and 28 million discussions on Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform.

Apologists for China’s onslaught of Uygurs are adopting the rhetoric of anti-imperialism. “Chinese people won’t swallow this,” the Communist Youth League wrote, suggesting Western boycotts of Xinjiang cotton are a national humiliation. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying drew parallels between America’s criticism of China’s Xinjiang policy and its accusation that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

“[T]oday’s China is neither Iraq nor Syria, still less the late Qing dynasty downtrodden by the Eight-Power Allied Forces,” she said.

The anti-imperialist language should remind US policymakers why they have failed to convince the people of China of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. While US diplomats like Mike Pompeo have urged the Chinese people to work with the United States and change the Communist Party’s behaviour, such wishful thinking ignores the fact that ordinary Chinese do not see America as a force of good.

To them, American intervention in Xinjiang is an imperial overreach based on calculations of national interest, not ethical considerations.

It is a throwback to America’s invasion of Iraq and therefore must be guarded against. Arguably, when it comes to failure to hold China accountable in Xinjiang, America has no one to blame but its own history of foreign policy double standards.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x