The Bloody Hands of China: An Editorial
By Sebastian Reichelt
Some believe that China is destined to surpass the United States in global dominance due to the most significant economic growth in history, potentially claiming the United States’ crown as a global leader. However, behind this astounding success is the ethnic cleansing of Western China. Our general perception of China is often limited to its eastern region, which
predominantly contains the ethnic group of Han Chinese people. Though traveling west, in the provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet, there are ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans, not Han Chinese. Xinjiang and Tibet used to be independent countries but were later colonized by the Chinese government in 1912 and 1950.
As people from New York City, we understand the importance of diversity, and find it appalling that the Chinese government has been committing genocide on these people for decades.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean hating Chinese people, but having a severe distaste for the Chinese government as they have shown their actions to be a crime against humanity. We must not allow the Chinese government to oppress the people in the provinces of Xinjiang and Tibet by denying them their sovereignty and cultural expression.
Tibet, under Chinese rule, has experienced mass killings and cultural oppression. An estimated 1.2 million Tibetans, or one in every six Tibetans, have been killed by the Chinese government. Since we passionately believe in civil liberties and human rights in America, then we must not stand by and do nothing as the Chinese government massacres these people.
The fate of the rest of the Tibetians is horrifying as an article from Reuters explains, “Uzra Zeya, U.S. undersecretary of State for democracy and human rights, told the hearing that China continued to ‘wage a campaign of repression that seeks to forcibly Sinicize’ [which means to modify with Chinese influence] the 6 million Tibetans in the country and eliminate Tibetan religious, cultural and linguistic heritage.” (Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, and Leslie Adler 1). The Tibetans' cultural freedom and sovereignty have been taken away. Though these are not Chinese people, these people deserve to decide their destiny, not to be ruled by foreign people without any interest in the interest of Tibetans.
North of Tibet, Xinjiang, is experiencing one of the worst genocides in the modern world. The Uyghur people, who are Turkic Muslims, are forced into adopting the lifestyle of Han Chinese people. The Kazakh and Kyrgyz people who find themselves on the borders of Xinjiang
are experiencing the same treatment as the Uyghurs. An Uyghur who was able to escape the camps stated, “How to tell my loved ones that I lived at the mercy of police violence, of Uyghurs like me who, because of the status their uniforms gave them, could do as they wished with us, our bodies and souls? Of men and women whose brains had been thoroughly washed – robots stripped of humanity” (Gulbahar Haitiwaji 5).
These people are stripped of their humanity and treated less like humans and more like puppets due to China's actions. These actions are breaking fundamental human rights, and immediate action must be taken against the Chinese government. We can not let this tyrant, Xi Jinping, use his rule to forcefully assimilate the Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyzs to make a monoculture society. The Chinese Communist Party must respect Xinjiang. We can not let big powers ethnically cleanse a population, committing war crimes for their benefit because then as Americans we accept an oppressive system, killing the innocent, to give power to the rulers.
Why does China want these countries? Why spend money oppressing these people? According to a Guardian article, ‘Our souls are dead’: how I survived a Chinese ‘re-education’ camp for Uyghurs, they stated the reason they had Xinjiang was that, “Xinjiang is a strategic corridor and far too valuable for China’s ruling Communist party to risk losing control of it.” (Gulbahar Haitiwaji 1). China plans to gain economic supremacy over the United States by integrating with many other countries. This involves creating transport going from China through Central Asia and spreading to places such as Turkey and Pakistan. The Chinese Communist Party can’t be allowed to oppress its population to gain more economic and geopolitical power.
Though why does Xi Jinping want Tibet? This can be explained in a Wion article that explains how Tibet is a vital water source for many Asian countries, including China (Wion 1). This shows how China wants Tibet for water so they can hydrate their citizens, but allowing Tibet to have that power is not optimal for the Chinese Community Party. Similarly, if you look at which countries the water flows into, invading Tibet gives them a lot of leverage against India as it’s a major geopolitical enemy of China, and having access to cut off their water is a massive geopolitical advantage. The Tibetans are being oppressed for geopolitical and economic reasons. We see something very similar in America, and to a lesser extent, where minorities such as African-Americans, Asians, and women are exploited for the economic benefit of the people in power. The Chinese Communist Party can’t be allowed to oppress minorities because it has greater geopolitical and economic implications for China.
China must be held accountable for its horrible actions against Tibet and Xinjiang. The Tibetans have been killed, the Uyghurs have been ethnically cleansed, all for geopolitical and economic power. A country should not be able to commit such a horrific crime against humanity without a severe punishment.
We must put heavy sanctions on China to force them to stop these crimes. We must do everything in our power to limit China from gaining any money until they stop these actions in Tibet and Xinjiang. Once we can vote, you must use it to have our politicians commit to these actions. In addition to our vote, try to buy products manufactured in places outside of China, such as Vietnam. We can not let China avoid consequences while it kills Tibetans and Uyghurs, it is a stain on peace in a post-World War II world to see this ethnic cleansing.