Xinjiang rebranding – CBS News

Xinjiang province on China’s western frontier – the starting point of the Silk Road and an ancient gateway for trade to the Middle East – has been off-limits during the pandemic. However, it has reopened and has recently been promoted by the state for both its beauty and business opportunities.

CBS News recently participated in a tour organized by the Chinese Information Agency. The Bureau arranged buses, set the itinerary, and had interpreters and staff accompany them every step of the way. They showed us everything from agricultural machinery to ancient ruins to e-selling local plums on TikTok.

we did not do it See evidence of the detention centers and prisons that turned Xinjiang into an international scandal.

Up to 1 million Muslim Uyghurs have been rounded up and imprisoned in Xinjiang since 2014, according to human rights groups. Those who were able to escape, and thousands more, settled in the United States.

Babur Ilchi of the Uyghur Human Rights Project in Washington said the Chinese Communist Party is threatened by Uyghurs because “we are not Han Chinese and we are cut off from the majority of China. Because they see us as potential beings.” It is a threat to complete hegemony over China. ”

Meanwhile, the government is investing heavily in Xinjiang, including a multibillion-dollar high-speed railway. There was evidence everywhere that China was spending eye-popping amounts of money on infrastructure such as wind farms and tourism development. The message is: forget about human rights abuses and enjoy the scenery.

One of our translators, Zou Bin, is Han Chinese. He grew up in Xinjiang and wanted to tell us how proud he is of the region he has always called home. “I hope we can change some of the ideas and impressions that are being spread about Xinjiang by some Western media,” he said.

“So you want me to tell you another story and leave?” we asked.

“Yes, as you can see.”

The Chinese government initially denied the existence of Uighur camps. However, they announced that all of those facilities were closed in 2019 after they were seen in satellite images. One official confirmed that we drove by one such facility, although it wasn’t visible on camera, but he said it wasn’t enough to point it out. , because it was closed.

Instead, we saw folk dances, local wine production, and villages that have been remodeled and beautified especially for tourists.

But only fleeting glimpses into the private lives of Uyghurs were available.

The facility that officially recognizes China’s oppression of the Uyghur people is the Museum of Extremists in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Its gruesome exhibits are reminiscent of attacks by Uyghur militants dating back to the 1990s. In one of those incidents, 1,700 people were injured and 200 stores were set on fire, the guide said. The message is that the Chinese government had no choice but to firmly condemn it.

When suggested that the Chinese government’s repression of the Uyghurs was a response to terrorist attacks, Babur Ilchi of the Uyghur Human Rights Project responded: [is] Sending an entire nation to a concentration camp means that it is beyond its ability to protect itself. ”

At night in Urumqi, we did witness a heavy security presence. But overall, there were facial recognition cameras everywhere, and the enforcement and atmosphere was relaxed.

The very fact of this journalist’s tour shows that the Chinese government believes it has subjugated the Uyghurs. Everything we saw on this tour, and everything we didn’t see, rebrands Xinjiang so that it is no longer infamous for gross human rights violations against the Uyghur people, but rather as a tourist attraction. It emphasizes China’s determination to become famous.

In the past, there was a tradition of Islam throughout Xinjiang. Religion was a pillar of Uyghur community life, as were conservative customs such as veils for women and beards for men. No more. The old ways of the Uyghurs were suppressed. The law currently prohibits overt religious expression and even clothing in public.

Meanwhile, the influence of the Han Chinese majority is officially encouraged. The ancient capital of Kashgar now has the Chinese name “Kashi”.

In the bazaars of Xinjiang, Uyghurs are being Disneyfied. The sacred Id Ka Mosque also sells tickets to tourists.

I found Imam Meimeti Siddique, an ethnic Uyghur, in a bazaar in Urumqi, who said he had been in a re-education camp for seven months. His sin is being overly religious. “I wouldn’t want his wife to work either,” he said. and now? He responded in line with his party’s policy, saying, “I realized that I had violated Chinese law, and I reformed.”

But with surveillance cameras watching and official guides nearby, how freely could he speak? We’ll never know.

It’s showtime at Nazerbag Village Kindergarten for local Uighur children. Although the Chinese government officially promotes bilingual education, it is in Chinese, and the books on the bookshelf are also in Chinese.

The Chinese government wants the world to believe that its harsh crackdown was good for stability and security, and for the Uyghur people themselves. Even if Uyghurs disagree, they are not saying it specifically to us. And as far as China is concerned, it is mission accomplished.

Welcome to Xinjiang 2.0.

Story produced by Randy Schmidt.