The Chinese region of Xinjiang is home to millions of ethnic Muslim Uighurs who have lived there for decades. Hundreds of thousands of Uighurs have been detained in camps without trial, but China argues they voluntarily attend centres which combat “extremism”.
Recently, the BBC was granted permission to visit one of the camps. Read the exposé to learn more.
I wanted to write this article because something very interesting occurred during the BBC’s visit. BBC’s China Correspondent John Sudworth sat down with the local government of Xinjiang where they revealed their true intentions.
In essence, China believes it can determine guilt in advance. In other words: pre-crime.
Zhang Zhishen, Xinjiang Foreign Affairs Office:
Some people, before they commit murder, already show they’re capable of killing. Should we wait for them to commit the crime? Or should we prevent it from happening?
Xu Guixiang, Xinjiang Propaganda Department:
Our focus is to take a person who’s on the edge of committing a crime, a minor criminal, and return them to normal society as a law-abiding citizen.
We now have persons on this planet which we can call “pre-criminals”. I think it’s time to move Orwell’s 1984 to the non-fiction section.
Thanks for reading,
Notes:
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-48700786
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/China_hidden_camps