Why Xi Jinping’s Xinjiang policy is a major change in China’s ethnic politics
“Absolutely no mercy” was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2014 directive in Xinjiang, according to a recent New York Times article based on over 400 pages of leaked Chinese Communist Party (CCP) documents. These documents offer new clues on the extent and official rationale for the CCP’s mass detention of 1 million or more Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslims in internment camps.
Other signs of CCP efforts to “Sinicize” religion are evident throughout China. In July, Reuters reported that local authorities in Beijing ordered 11 halal restaurants to remove Arabic language and Islamic imagery from their signage. These and other examples suggest authoritarian consolidation under Xi’s leadership has led to a sea change in China’s policy toward its ethnic minorities.… Seguir leyendo »