HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

China’s Mass Internment of Uighurs Is a ‘Modern Cultural Genocide’

Views:1014
@ReasonVids

In western China, there's a growing network of what journalists, former inmates, and the U.S. government are calling "concentration camps"—or what the Chinese government refers to as "vocational training centers." They're believed to hold between 1 and 3 million people, and perhaps as much as one-quarter of the Muslim population of Xinjiang province.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason
Subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.


Outside the camps, Xinjiang is described by its Uighur residents as a police state, in which the Chinese government subjects the population to round-the-clock surveillance. Expressions of traditional culture have been criminalized, with the intention of imposing Chinese cultural unity on a multicultural region.

Xinjiang, a region the size of Alaska, is home to 23 million people, 45 percent of whom are Uighurs, a people who identify closely with the culture of central Asia. The remainder are mostly Han Chinese, the majority ethnic group of mainland China.

Government officials initially denied the existence of the camps. Confronted with overwhelming evidence from satellite photography, witness testimonies, and internal communist party documents, Beijing was finally forced to acknowledge their existence.

Officials now say that the camps are necessary to counter Islamic terrorism and quell a violent separatist movement—such as the Uighur riots in 2009 that left 200 mostly Han Chinese dead, and a terror attack by the East Turkistan Islamic Movement in the heart of Tiananmen Square, which killed five people. Party officials describe the training centers as paths out of poverty, designed to teach basic skills like sewing and reading. 

Reason's Todd Krainin sat down with Nury Turkel, an attorney, activist, and American of Uighur heritage, to discuss what he considers the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world today. 

Produced by Todd Krainin.

PHOTOS
Morandi Bruno/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
Hu Huhu Xinhua News Agency/Newscom
Antonio Albore/agefotostock/Newscom
Eric Lafforgue/agefotostock/Newscom
Stephen Shaver/UPI/Newscom
Imagine China/Newscom
Zhou You/ZUMA Press/Newscom
Stephen Shaver/UPI/Newscom

MUSIC:
"Gathering Stasis" by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed on a creative commons license.

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
china
,
genocide
,
xinjiang
,
rebiya kadeer
,
terrorism
,
east turkestan
,
re-education camp
    Thumbnail for Stossel: Lessons From Africa5:50
    Stossel: Lessons From Africa
    ReasonVids
    779 views
    Thumbnail for The Plan to Create a Giant, Privately Funded Nature Reserve by Selling Beef5:33
    The Plan to Create a Giant, Privately Funded Nature Reserve by Selling Beef
    ReasonVids
    967 views
    Thumbnail for Pro Vaxxtard Gets Steamrolled5:04
    Pro Vaxxtard Gets Steamrolled
    bestofupgoat
    398 views
    Thumbnail for Should the U.S. Military Intervene in Taiwan? A Soho Forum Debate1:16:59
    Should the U.S. Military Intervene in Taiwan? A Soho Forum Debate
    ReasonVids
    740 views
    Thumbnail for If We Do Nothing: Sam Francis, RIP10:21
    If We Do Nothing: Sam Francis, RIP
    AmericanRenaissance
    839 views
    Thumbnail for Alan Bock, rest in peace4:53
    Alan Bock, rest in peace
    ReasonVids
    713 views
    Thumbnail for BRITISH taxpayers are being forced to financially support Muslim freeloaders like Mohammed and his wife and their 10 children because he doesn’t want to get a job. Oh and his wife is about to give birth to their 11th child.1:11
    BRITISH taxpayers are being forced to financially support Muslim freeloaders like Mohammed and his wife and their 10 children because he doesn’t want to get a job. Oh and his wife is about to give birth to their 11th child.
    AOUisgay
    451 views
    Thumbnail for NBC's Education Nation Summit: Joe Trippi, Michelle Rhee, & More4:13
    NBC's Education Nation Summit: Joe Trippi, Michelle Rhee, & More
    ReasonVids
    873 views
    Thumbnail for Great Moments in Unintended Consequences (Vol. 7)2:33
    Great Moments in Unintended Consequences (Vol. 7)
    ReasonVids
    845 views
    Thumbnail for Desperate Mayors Compete for Amazon HQ23:48
    Desperate Mayors Compete for Amazon HQ2
    ReasonVids
    921 views
    Thumbnail for Some hurting is in order.. There is no political solution 2:51
    Some hurting is in order.. There is no political solution
    bestofupgoat
    123 views
    Thumbnail for Media Manipulation and Unconventional Marketing: Author Ryan Holiday on "Trust Me I'm Lying"7:52
    Media Manipulation and Unconventional Marketing: Author Ryan Holiday on "Trust Me I'm Lying"
    ReasonVids
    882 views
    Thumbnail for Taking Politics Out of Transportation: Economist Bruce Benson on Private Roads6:33
    Taking Politics Out of Transportation: Economist Bruce Benson on Private Roads
    ReasonVids
    976 views
    Thumbnail for The Most Toxic Places on Earth | Thomas Mulligan0:53
    The Most Toxic Places on Earth | Thomas Mulligan
    invidious
    155 views
    Thumbnail for 3 Myths About American Decline4:44
    3 Myths About American Decline
    ReasonVids
    1177 views
    Thumbnail for Michael McMenamin: How Churchill Became Churchill7:17
    Michael McMenamin: How Churchill Became Churchill
    ReasonVids
    1050 views
    Thumbnail for Lavabit's Ladar Levison on Snowden, Why He Shut Down, and How to Beat the NSA15:46
    Lavabit's Ladar Levison on Snowden, Why He Shut Down, and How to Beat the NSA
    ReasonVids
    907 views
    Thumbnail for The Anastasians. Ginge left wing take, but interesting. First I have heard of this. 2:28
    The Anastasians. Ginge left wing take, but interesting. First I have heard of this.
    bestofupgoat
    299 views
    Thumbnail for CNN's Libertarian Town Hall in 3 Minutes3:53
    CNN's Libertarian Town Hall in 3 Minutes
    ReasonVids
    860 views
    Thumbnail for Monagas vs. Portuguesa - Torneo Apertura 2025 - Jornada 42:16:56
    Monagas vs. Portuguesa - Torneo Apertura 2025 - Jornada 4
    invidious
    95 views
    Thumbnail for IJ's Chip Mellor Discusses Government Mandated Licensing With John Stossel (2 of 3)6:46
    IJ's Chip Mellor Discusses Government Mandated Licensing With John Stossel (2 of 3)
    IJvids
    1017 views
    Thumbnail for How Dewey Bartlett Balanced Tulsa's Budget without Raising Taxes6:23
    How Dewey Bartlett Balanced Tulsa's Budget without Raising Taxes
    ReasonVids
    869 views
    Thumbnail for The 3 Best and Worst Moments of Last Night's GOP Debate3:26
    The 3 Best and Worst Moments of Last Night's GOP Debate
    ReasonVids
    958 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
china
,
genocide
,
xinjiang
,
rebiya kadeer
,
terrorism
,
east turkestan
,
re-education camp
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle