The predominantly Muslim Uyghur ethnic group are among the minorities targeted in what Beijing claims is a campaign to tackle unrest and separatism. The UN says a million Uyghurs were arbitrarily detained in “political re-education camps,” whilst Human Rights Watch reports that surveillance and repression in Xinjiang has increased dramatically since 2016. Several western countries have imposed sanctions over Beijing’s actions.
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COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
China’s ‘ecological civilisation’ – a large-scale form of greenwashing?
The dramatic rise in China’s economy since the 1980s has been matched by an equally dramatic rise in pollution and habitat destruction. Nobody knows this better than the millions of people in China who have endured the country’s ecological decline. The leadership has responded to this situation by promoting a new ideology: “ecological civilisation.” This…
Does China want the US to leave Afghanistan?
By Georgia Leatherdale-Gilholy After an almost 20-year war – the US’s longest – President Biden has announced that US and NATO troops will complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan by August 31st. America’s war may be almost over, but Afghanistan’s conflict won’t be. The cycle of violence and humanitarian crises that have recently characterised the so-called…
FEATURES
In Pictures: Mainland Chinese in Hong Kong gather in solidarity with nationwide demos against zero-Covid
About 50 people gathered for a vigil at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) on Monday night to mourn those who died in a Xinjiang fire after it was locked down amid Covid restrictions. Beijing has said that those linking the incident to its zero-Covid approach had “ulterior motives.” Ten people were killed and…
Explainer: How China’s ‘blank placard’ Covid protests were sparked by a deadly fire
In recent days, nationwide protests have exploded in China, as hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the streets of major cities and university campuses to rally against the government’s stringent Covid-19 measures. Videos circulating online show many cheering for broader freedoms. Dubbed the “A4 revolution” for the blank sheets of paper people have held aloft, the…