‘We are all Chinese’: Beijing’s message on Xinjiang shifts to ethnicity
- Media changed tone ahead of Tuesday’s UN review of China’s human rights record, in which Beijing rejected criticism of treatment of ethnic Muslims
- Reports claim pan-Turkism ‘has undermined sense of national identity’, and ‘Uygurs are not Turkic’
China has launched a propaganda offensive to reframe discussion of the far-western region of Xinjiang in ethnic terms, with the theme “we are all Chinese, not Turkic”.
The change of emphasis began before a regular United Nations review of China’s human rights record in Geneva on Tuesday, and sought to reinforce the notion of China as a unified multi-ethnic country whose history was being distorted by separatists.
A UN human rights panel estimated in August that 1 million ethnic Uygurs and other Muslims in China were being held in what resembled a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy”, and subjected to enforced political indoctrination.
Many Western countries have urged China to halt internment and allow independent observers unhindered access to inspect its camps.
On Tuesday, China again rejected criticism of its treatment of ethnic Muslims, telling the UN review the accusations of rights abuses from some countries were “politically driven”.