The evidence is clear: a genocide against the Uighurs is in progress. Britain must not put trade before human rights
It came as no surprise to me that I have been included on the list of those sanctioned by the Chinese government for vocal criticisms of the human rights abuses towards Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province. China is not big on freedom of speech.
In the “tit-for-tat game that is part of foreign relations, this action is of little consequence. On a personal level, I will be sad not to visit China again, as I have great admiration for many Chinese academics and human rights advocates with whom I have had contact. However, I have no assets to freeze, no investments and no secret property, and my legal work seeking to protect human rights will go on as before.
The current representative of the US empire finally held his first full press conference yesterday, an embarrassing and undignified affair which saw a gaggle of obsequious imperial stenographers gather round to make believe that important policy decisions about the operation of the most powerful government in the world are actually being made by this dried up empty husk of a man who can barely think or talk.
Once again we heard the US empire babbling about the plight of Muslims in China, with the words tumbling out of Biden’s dementia-addled brain that he “made it clear that no American president, at least one did, but no American president had ever backed down from speaking out of what’s happening in the Uyghurs.”
By “what’s happening in the Uyghurs” Biden was attempting to articulate a concern for the human rights of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province, a talking point the US empire has been fallaciously and dishonestly pushing with more and more aggression as attempts to halt the rise of China escalate in urgency. And literally seconds later, Biden made it clear that that is exactly what this feigned concern for Muslim lives was indeed really about.
“So I see stiff competition with China,” Biden said. “China has an overall goal, and I don’t criticize them for the goal, but they have an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world and the most powerful country in the world. That’s not going to happen on my watch because United States is going to continue to grow and expand.”
President Biden on China: "They have an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world and the most powerful country in the world. That's not going to happen on my watch." pic.twitter.com/GAZUqnpY9G
As we discussed recently, it is a known fact that the US government has a standing policy of dishonestly weaponizing “human rights” concerns against nations like China in order to strategically undermine them while knowingly ignoring the brazen human rights violations that are being perpetrated by its allies on a regular basis. The US government does not care about the plight of the Uyghurs in China. It doesn’t care that the allegations regarding the abuse of their rights are riddled with glaring plot holes. All it cares about is undermining its chief geostrategic rival on the world stage, truth be damned.
And I just can’t get over the fact that the path the US empire has taken in order to attack that leading geostrategic rival is in pretending to care about the human rights of Muslims. We really don’t laugh at these clowns hard enough for that.
I mean, just think about that for a second. The US government, the government of the United States of America, has been melodramatically rending its garments over the wellbeing of Muslims. Muslims! Of all the populations they could possibly have chosen to cynically spearhead their campaign against China, they went with the one where they have the least possible number of legs to stand on.
This would after all be the same religious population which the US has been cheerfully slaughtering by the millions in its campaigns of military mass murder, just since the turn of this century. The same religious population the US has displaced by the tens of millions in its campaign of terrorism called the “war on terror”, also just since the turn of this century. The same religious population the US has sadistically tortured in facilities like Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The same religious population who was terrorized by an escalation in hate crimes in the United States itself due to propaganda campaigns for George W Bush’s wars, wars which were enthusiastically supported and facilitated by the current invalid-in-chief.
In almost the same breath as humanitarian interventionist bromides about Uyghurs and Hong Kong, Biden says his goal with China is preventing it from supplanting the US as the world’s leading economic power. A candid explanation of why Washington exploits human rights.
The only sane response to the US empire feigning concern for the wellbeing of a foreign Muslim population is laughter, derision, and ridicule. The whole world should be rolling on the floor laughing at these people. The fact that these butchers are saying “Oh won’t somebody please think of the Muslims!” after waging a psychopathic campaign of murder and theft upon an entire swath of Muslim-majority countries means we should all be mocking them, pointing at them, and laughing them out of the room.
Can you honestly think of anything more ridiculous? Off the top of my head I cannot.
The fact that a vast globe-spanning empire has placed so many chips on its ability to halt the rise of China by claiming to care about the rights and wellbeing of Muslims is one of the most cartoonishly absurd things that has ever happened in the history of civilization. We should be reacting to this accordingly.
It’s silly how many of us are still sitting around taking this clown show seriously. Let’s start making fun of these freaks. The entire US empire deserves to be laughed at, discredited, and dismissed forever.
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Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my new book Poems For Rebels (you can also download a PDF for five bucks) or my old bookWoke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge.
Burberry and H&M among brands targeted over stance on region at centre of Uighur abuses allegations
Chinese celebrities and politicians are racing to distance themselves from western brands as Beijing steps up a campaign to penalise those making accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, including fashion companies that boycott the region’s cotton.
The basis for these sanctions is listed as “human rights” violations in Xinjiang province, as US Secretary of State Tony Blinken explains:
“Amid growing international condemnation, the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. The United States reiterates its calls on the PRC to bring an end to the repression of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, including by releasing all those arbitrarily held in internment camps and detention facilities.”
Blinken’s allegations are unfounded, as explained in this recent article from The Grayzone and in this comprehensive video by the Youtube channel Bay Area 415. While it’s entirely possible that human rights violations could be happening in Xinjiang in some form and to some extent, the extremely flimsy and blatantly manipulated evidence we’ve seen so far for western claims of “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” should draw immediate incredulity from anyone who remembers the lead-up to the Iraq invasion. The only sane response to unfounded claims by known liars is skepticism and agnosticism until we are presented with proof that rises to the level required in a post-Iraq invasion world.
These talking points issued by the State Department chief look even more off-base when we remember that a leaked 2017 State Department memo confirmed that the United States has a standing policy of using allegations of human rights violations as a bludgeon against nations like China while ignoring known human rights violations against member states of the empire like Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
In December 2017 Politico published an internal memo that had been sent the previous May to then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by virulent neocon Brian Hook. The memo provided useful insight into what it looks like when a toxic swamp monster orients a political neophyte to the inner mechanics of the empire, explaining the way “human rights” are really just a tool to be cynically exploited to advance the goal of planetary hegemony like an old veteran explaining the backstory to the new guy in the pilot episode of a new TV series.
“In the case of US allies such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines, the Administration is fully justified in emphasizing good relations for a variety of important reasons, including counter-terrorism, and in honestly facing up to the difficult tradeoffs with regard to human rights,” Hook explained in the memo.
“One useful guideline for a realistic and successful foreign policy is that allies should be treated differently — and better — than adversaries,” Hook wrote. “We do not look to bolster America’s adversaries overseas; we look to pressure, compete with, and outmaneuver them. For this reason, we should consider human rights as an important issue in regard to US relations with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. And this is not only because of moral concern for practices inside those countries. It is also because pressing those regimes on human rights is one way to impose costs, apply counter-pressure, and regain the initiative from them strategically.”
A leaked State Department memo officially confirms the open secret we all knew: when the US government expresses concerns about so-called "human rights," it doesn't actually care about human rights; it's just a cheap political tactic to demonize US enemieshttps://t.co/MrcZpLmdEWpic.twitter.com/tIWl5zXo1w
So if it wasn’t already clear to you that the US empire is faking its concern for the wellbeing of Muslim lives (and a quick glance at America’s actions in the Middle East should make that read like the punchline of a bad joke anyway), it should be clear to you now. Neither Washington nor its vassal states harbor any interest in protecting the interests of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, they are only using that narrative to, as Brian Hook put it, “impose costs, apply counter-pressure, and regain the initiative from them strategically.” This is exactly what a steadily escalating international sanctions campaign helps accomplish.
The illusion is that the US and its allies have seen evidence of genocide and crimes against humanity and taken action against China in the interest of human rights. The reality is that actions against China were already planned, and a narrative was used to justify them.
Meanwhile we ordinary people are watching two nuclear-armed nations escalate against one another with increasing aggression, with escalations against nuclear-armed Russia complicating things even further. This incredibly dangerous flirtation with the unthinkable is the most important thing happening in our world, and we should all oppose it tooth and claw.
You don’t need to believe that the Chinese government is run by a bunch of saints to understand that these great power confrontations serve no one and threaten everyone–economically, politically, and existentially. There is no legitimate reason we can’t all begin collaborating with each other toward the common good of humanity instead of brandishing armageddon weapons at one another with increasing recklessness in the name of unipolar hegemony.
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Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for at my website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything I publish. My work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, liking me on Facebook, following my antics on Twitter, or throwing some money into my tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy my new book Poems For Rebels (you can also download a PDF for five bucks) or my old bookWoke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. For more info on who I am, where I stand, and what I’m trying to do with this platform, click here. Everyone, racist platforms excluded, has my permission to republish, use or translate any part of this work (or anything else I’ve written) in any way they like free of charge.
It is the first time for three decades UK or EU has punished China for human rights abuses
Britain and the EU have taken joint action with the US and Canada to impose parallel sanctions on a senior Chinese officials involved in the mass internment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province in the first such western action against Beijing since Joe Biden took office.
The move also marked the first time for three decades the UK or the EU had punished China for human rights abuses, and both will now be working hard to contain the potential political and economic fallout. China hit back immediately, blacklisting MEPs, European diplomats and thinktanks.
Independent Rex Patrick moves after similar parliamentary motions passed in Canada and the Netherlands
An Australian senator will seek support from fellow upper house members to recognise China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority as genocide, after similar parliamentary motions passed in Canada and the Netherlands.
The proposed motion – placed on the Senate’s notice paper for 15 March – looms as a test for the major parties at a time when Australia should join the international community in taking a stand, according to the South Australian independent senator Rex Patrick.
Proposal is attempt to find compromise on issue after two rejections in Commons
The government’s marathon resistance to giving the UK judiciary any role in determining if a country is committing genocide has suffered a fresh blow after peers voted to set up an ad hoc five-strong parliamentary judicial committee to assess evidence of genocide crimes. The peers voted in favour by a majority of 367 to 214, a majority of 153.
It is the third time peers have voted for the measure in various forms and Tory whips will have to face down a third rebellion on the issue when the trade bill returns to the Commons. The judicial but parliamentary genocide assessment would be made if the government was planning to sign a new trade or economic agreement and would be most relevant to claims that China is committing genocide against the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province.
The tightening of state control over Hong Kong and Xinjiang reveal a consolidation of authority in Xi’s CCP, intent on stifling any signs of nonconformity.
Government offers alternative to amendment that could force UK to reconsider trade deals with countries such as China
The government is seeking to fend off a backbench revolt over China by giving the foreign affairs select committee new powers to investigate whether a country is so clearly breaching human rights that the UK should not agree to a free trade deal with it.
California’s Proposition 22 locked in a second-tier status for gig economy workers. In the state and around the country, they’re still organizing for something better.
The US has accused China of genocide against the Uighurs, while British MPs are pressing the government to take a tougher stand
It took a long time for leaders to notice, longer to condemn, and longer still to act. It took time for researchers to amass evidence of China’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang – from mass detention to forced sterilisation – given the intense security and secrecy in the north-west region. Beijing initially denied the existence of the camps, believed to have held about a million Turkic Muslims, before describing them as educational centres to tackle extremism. But the hesitation by other governments also reflected the anxiety to maintain relations with the world’s second-largest economy.
The US, on Donald Trump’s final day in office, became the first country to declare that China is committing genocide. The administration has already targeted officials and issued a ban on any cotton or tomato products from the region. On Tuesday, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, described a “systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese party-state … forced assimilation and eventual erasure”. A more cautious report from a bipartisan US Congressional commission said that China had committed crimes against humanity and “possibly” genocide.
Defeated measure aimed to give high court more power to protect minorities such as China’s Uighurs
The government has narrowly defeated a move requiring the government to reconsider any trade deal with a country found by the high court to be committing genocide.
The measure, backed by religious groups and a powerful cross-party alliance of MPs, was defeated by 319 to 308.
UK court would determine whether China is committing genocide against Uighurs if measure passed
The government is struggling to contain a potential backbench rebellion over its China policy after the Conservative Muslim Forum, the International Bar Association (IBA), and the prime minister’s former envoy on freedom of religious belief backed a move to give the UK courts a say in determining whether countries are committing genocide.
The measure is due in the Commons on Tuesday when the trade bill returns from the Lords where a genocide amendment has been inserted. The amendment has been devised specifically in relation to allegations that China is committing genocide against Uighur people in Xinjiang province, a charge Beijing has repeatedly denied.
For him to choose the situation facing the Uighurs in China to do so also seems appropriate, but it represents a blunt instrument for the task in hand. Fines for companies that refuse to issue modern slavery statements will increase the number of statements, but not necessarily their quality.
Human Rights Watch lists persecutions in Xinjiang, Mongolia, Tibet and Hong Kong but notes new willingness to condemn Beijing
China is in the midst of its darkest period for human rights since the Tiananmen Square massacre, Human Rights Watch has said in its annual report.
Worsening persecutions of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, targeting of whistleblowers, the crackdown on Hong Kong and attempts to cover up the coronavirus outbreak were all part of the deteriorating situation under President Xi Jinping, the organisation said.
Foreign secretary sets out measures to ensure UK companies cannot profit from forced labour in Xinjiang
China’s treatment of the Uighur people amounts to torture, the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said as he set out measures designed to ensure no companies allow the use of forced labour from Xinjiang province in their supply chain. Deterrent fines will be imposed on firms that do not show due diligence in cleaning up their supply chains, he said.
The aim, he told MPs, was to “ensure no company that profits from forced labour in Xinjiang can do business in the UK, that no UK business is involved in their supply chains”.
Companies could face fines amid demands UK government do more to challenge China
Dominic Raab is to address concerns over UK complicity in the use of forced labour in China’s Xinjiang province with more requirements on companies that buy goods there and possible sanctions on Chinese officials believed to be instrumental in the abuse.
Proposals released by the foreign secretary this week could include fines if companies fail to meet commitments to show due diligence in their supply chains. A proposal for a total ban on cotton from the province is thought not to be feasible.
Exclusive: More than 70 Harvard student organisations sign open letter urging US state department to take stronger action over Ekpar Asat
The US government must do more to demand China release a Uighur man who was jailed for 15 years after participating in a state department exchange program, a coalition of Harvard University schools and student groups has said.
Ekpar Asat, a young entrepreneur from Xinjiang, disappeared in 2016 after returning from the US where he had been on the exchange program and visited his sister Rayhan, a Harvard law student. He had promised to come back to the US in a few months with their parents to watch her become Harvard’s first ever Uighur graduate.
Ankara has long welcomed Uighur and Turkic Muslims fleeing China but rights groups fear the treaty will endanger them
Beijing has ratified an extradition treaty with Turkey that human rights groups warn could endanger Uighur families and activists fleeing persecution by Chinese authorities if it is adopted by Ankara.
The treaty, signed in 2017, was formalised at the weekend at the National People’s Congress, with state media saying it would be used for counter-terrorism purposes. Facing strong opposition within its parliament, Turkey’s government has not yet ratified the deal, and critics have urged the government to abandon it and prevent the treaty from “becoming an instrument of persecution”.
