Aniruddha Live (FB)-China and the US Uighur Rights Bill
This is the matter of my FB live on 20th June, 2020. You can watch the video here
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The India-China face-off at the LAC, or the Line of Actual Control, has taken an ugly turn which led to loss of precious lives of our soldiers. We, as citizens of India must severely condemn such actions by our neighbors, irrespective of any political or social affiliations.
While the Indian government has been prompt and has taken strict action at the diplomatic and strategic fronts there is one more problem that the Chinese government may soon face alongside the unnecessary rivalry that the Chinese dragon has been igniting with the Indian tiger.
The United States has introduced a Uighur Rights Bill calling for sanctions against China over the repression of China’s Uighur Muslims. The legislation has already been signed by the US President Donald Trump.
Who are the Uighurs?
Now let us delve a bit into the background of this matter first.
The Uighurs are a minority Muslim community concentrated in China’s north-western Xinjiang province. They claim closer ethnic ties to Turkey and other central Asian countries than to China.
What is the accusation?
- The U.S. State Department has accused Chinese officials of subjecting Muslims to torture, abuse “and trying to basically erase their culture and their religion.”
- The United Nations estimates that more than a million Muslims have been detained in camps in the Xinjiang region-technically an autonomous region in China.
What is the problem in China?
Now a question arises why is China targeting the Uighurs?
- Now, Xinjiang is basically an autonomous region within the Chinese territory. It is the largest province in China sharing border with eight countries, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia.
- Over the past few decades economic prosperity has come to Xinjiang. Along with economic affluence it has brought with it a large influx of the Han Chinese. The Han Chinese are the majority population in China and they have cornered the better jobs, and left the Uighurs feeling their livelihoods and identity were under threat.
- This led to sporadic violence in 2009 which culminated in a riot. The riot resulted in the death of nearly 200 people, most of whom were Han Chinese, in Urumqi, the capital of the region. Many incidences of violence have taken place since then.
- Also, the Chinese government says that Uighur groups want to establish an independent state and, because of the Uighurs’ cultural ties to their neighbours, leaders fear that elements in places like Pakistan may back a separatist movement in the region. It is strange that it’s the same Chinese government that keeps feeding such Pakistani forces against our country.
Therefore, the Chinese policy seems to have been one of treating the entire community as suspect, and launching a systematic project to chip away at every marker of a distinct Uighur identity.
What is the US Bill about?
- The Bill calls for sanctions against those responsible for repression of Uighurs and other Muslim groups in China’s Xinjiang province.
- It singles out Chen Quanguo, the region’s Communist Party secretary, as responsible for “gross human rights violations” against them.
- The Bill also calls on U.S. firms operating in the Xinjiang region to ensure their products do not include parts which were produced using forced labour. Forced labour is deemed to be rampant throughout China but Xinjiang is usually considered as its worst example.
Implications
This can lead to a definite geopolitical and economic advantage for India in the field of global politics. The already evident internal disturbance and the pressure that will ensue from this bill from the largest economy in the world is going to make the Chinese powerhouse uncomfortable. Something that India can en-cash on in the global field and use to get a diplomatic advantage in the constant tussle that is going on between the two of the largest Asian powers.
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