Since the Chinese government are committing genocide against a whole people, why aren’t the US offering all Uighur peoples asylum?
Does genocide not meet asylum requirements?
Various organs of our state department has recognized the genocide, the NYTIMES and the Washington Post have both called it genocide, so it should be obvious that the solution to this human rights crisis is to offer unconditional asylum for the whole people.
What is the hold up?
After the Holocaust, the whole world pledge, “never again,” right?
How do you figure that is the solution? An offer of asylum is of no use if the people affected have no means to avail themselves of it. It’s not like China is going to hand each and every Uighur an all-expenses-paid travel voucher to the US, telling them, “Well, then, off you go, chaps! Enjoy your asylum! Oh, and terribly sorry about all that unpleasant genocide business.”
I don’t think that’s entirely right, I believe the CCP would be VERY GLAD to have the US accept them. They see the population as problematic that’s why they are systematically murdering millions of them: we have to save the remaining millions.
Whoa, hang on there—I was assuming that you were using the term “genocide” figuratively. I know all about the human rights abuses and the “re-education” camps and the suppression of the culture, but this is the first I’ve heard anyone claim that “millions” of Uighurs are being “systematically murdered”. Do you have a reliable source for that claim?
If anything I’m surprised a wealthy Muslim nation hasn’t stepped up to the plate it seems that would be their duty toward their brethren. But really what are you going to do, if China won’t even acknowledge it, it’s not like you can march into their country and demand anything. Economic sanctions probably won’t work unless the whole world actively participates.
As one book noted, it’s more like “Again and Again.” The world has very often dodged the issue on genocide even after the Holocaust - the reason being that, in the eyes of many nations, it’s just too much hassle - in a world where economics and good diplomatic relations are prized above everything else.
While millions of Uighurs aren’t being murdered, it should be noted that it could still be a literal genocide even if it just their cultural identity being destroyed. At least as far as the guy who actually coined it was concerned:
Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups
Yeah, this. Genocide doesn’t necessarily mean they are literally killing every member of the ethnic group. This isn’t to say that the CCP isn’t killing 10’s of thousands of Uighur’s a year (some of which are being used for parts), but it’s the systematic destruction of their language and culture as well as the forced colonization and various ways they are either forcing locals to be sterilized or otherwise not have children or breed, I guess, with the Han Chinese colonists that is the genocide part.
As to the OP, I’m not sure what more the US could do that we aren’t doing. We are already calling them out for what they are doing. As others noted, we can’t force the CCP in moving an entire people out of their homeland (and that doesn’t really solve anything anyway wrt cultural genocide), we also can’t force the CCP to act less brutally. I suppose the US could get more harsh in decoupling the US economy from China, and enact more punishments on US companies (or companies doing business with the US) for assisting the CCP in Xinjiang over and above what we are already doing. Other than that, I don’t know what more we could do. Which sort of says why the US (and other countries) aren’t doing more. We, collectively, are hypocrites, basically. We talk a good game but when something real happens we do fuck all, while if it’s something we can safely rail against (say, the latest outrage in the US) we are all over it. China and the CCP, however, play hardball, and they know that if they threaten our pocketbooks we’ll shut the fuck up and toe the line, so we, collectively, drop down to our knees and go along. We will also buy whatever bullshit the CCP pushes our way, so that this gets backburnered or spun enough that we can tell ourselves that it’s not REALLY an issue or a problem or happening, nothing to see behind the curtain, go back to sleep.
Someone up thread mentioned the major Muslim nations, and the answer is the same, really. The Belt and Road is Here, nananananana! The pocket books are clear, nanananananana! That and the huge amount of investment by the CCP in the ME, especially the more totalitarian nations that can’t get loans from other sources means that they also shut the fuck up and toe the line, while swallowing the CCP propaganda and ensuring that only the CCP narrative is what the common people see and hear. Nothing to see here, ignore that guy behind the curtain.
We aren’t doing anything about it because we don’t have the moral will. The Uighurs are just the next in line after the Tibetans. We do nothing because the two ends of our political system either talk big and take no action or just give in and try to make money from China. Unfortunately the rest of the world doesn’t care either. These are Muslims so most of the world will do nothing to help them, and then their own fellow Muslims rarely help each other out except when they’re trying to kill Israelis, and hardly even then either.
Nuclear-armed countries with large populations can get away with an awful lot within their borders if other countries aren’t willing to go to war with them over their crimes. And most aren’t.
Since spring 2017, the Chinese government has placed vast numbers of Turkic minorities into internment camps, which it refers to as “reeducation camps,” in the northwestern Xinjiang region. This March, it claimed that these supposed students would gradually be released into work placements. Data such as this supports this claim, but not in the way that the government is trying to sell it. Rather, it is part of a rapidly growing set of evidence for how Beijing’s long-term strategy to subdue its northwestern minorities is predicated upon a perverse and intrusive combination of coercive labor, intergenerational separation, and complete social control.
But according to numerous reports, China is also committed to functionally wiping them out as a people - and not just by destroying language or culture. We’re talking forced sterilization, state infanticide, and more. The old Emperors sought to demonstrate that they held the Mandate of Heaven. The current leadership appears to have traded that for the Decree of Hell.
The other reality is that the Uighurs happen to be situated in a part of the world where American influence is thin. Geographically, there’s almost no entry into the region and few channels for us to exercise influence. And the ugly reality is that our government and corporate leaders simply don’t care if China starts a new Holocaust.
There is also the thorny issue of all the American debt China holds. It would be difficult for us to really press the case here on China when they own so much of our debt. While this would not be the only thing on (or off) the table while demanding concessions on the Uighurs, it does complicate things.
I don’t think this is the hammer over our heads you think it is. In fact, that might be one of the few assets that they have right now as a life line. They could, of course, always sell off those assets, but I don’t think it’s going to be a big issue and I doubt there will be any lack of buyers. Their own debt bonds, on the other hand, are increasingly hard to sell, and their own mounting debt is a much bigger issue for them than our own is for us.
If I remember correctly there is reason to suspect that there is some sort of nonconsensual organ harvesting operation going on. I think… might be wrong… the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists did an exposé.
They are Muslim and the current administration doesn’t want Muslims
There isn’t a practical way to get them out of China
China is unlikely to be cooperative with any such operation
As mentioned upthread, Uighurs who do manage to get out of China probably can get asylum in a number of places.
It sure does. Problem is, the person(s) in question have to get out of the area where the genocide is occurring in order to ask for asylum. That’s often not possible.
For the USA - Trump doesn’t like Muslims, he wants Christian Europeans (most of whom prefer to stay in Europe because Europe isn’t that bad at present).
For the Muslim countries of the Middle East… well, in practice they don’t seem to give much of a damn for oppressed Muslims outside their borders. If they did, a lot more Palestinians would have been re-homed by now, much less Uighurs and Rohingya (another group of Muslims currently dealing with genocide).
Nope, they didn’t. The “never again” thing is largely a Western meme, and not even well followed there.
The same day Bolton’s book came out he signed a bill to punish China for those concentration camps. While I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually did say this to Xi (hell, nothing this idiot says surprises me), there is always a difference between what he says and what he actually does, and the fact that he’s gone forward with real things to punish the CCP for their behavior somewhat mitigates stupid shit he babbles as well. Somewhat. The other thing is, it’s not like previous (Democrat OR Republican) administrations or governments have done jack shit about the myriad CCP depredations.
