Read on Twitter
I've been trying to understand why, despite having over 18k followers, my posts about Xinjiang often go without a single like or retweet, so I did a little poll. https://twitter.com/kerim/status/1291537916997468161
Only 7 people responded, but let's assume it is true that most people avoid the topic because they feel they don't know enough about the topic to engage. This thread aims to fix that. (With contributions by @GroseTimothy @dtbyler @liaoshenyi @catielila @andybliu & @ChinaFile)
First some, good places to start if you know nothing:
If you like podcasts, this interview with @dtbyler is a great place to start: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/darren-byler-on-the-uyghur-people
If you like podcasts, this interview with @dtbyler is a great place to start: https://goodbye.substack.com/p/darren-byler-on-the-uyghur-people
If you prefer video, take a look at this segment from John Oliver's show
Or, for the readers out there, start with this FT article by @cdcshepherd https://www.ft.com/content/48508182-d426-11e9-8367-807ebd53ab77
We now move on to more in-depth reporting, starting with anthropologist @dtbyler's article "Ghost World," about how China is "is using technology to pioneer a new form of terror capitalism." https://logicmag.io/china/ghost-world/
The issues in this piece are well illustrated by this NY Times multimedia presentation by @ChuBailiang @paulmozur and @austinramzy https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/04/world/asia/xinjiang-china-surveillance-prison.html
Also by @dtbyler, "China’s Government Has Ordered a Million Citizens to Occupy Uighur Homes. Here’s What They Think They’re Doing" is also a must-read. https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/postcard/million-citizens-occupy-uighur-homes-xinjiang
Related to that is a recent report about how "China forcing birth control on Uighurs to suppress population." https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-53220713
Adam Hunerven's "Spirit Breaking: Capitalism and Terror in Northwest China" is very powerful and could also serve as a good introductory piece. http://chuangcn.org/journal/two/spirit-breaking/
Finally (for now), some good resources for more information, starting with a piece that inspired this thread: @cjcmichel's article: "The Left’s Deafening Silence on China’s Ethnic Cleansing" which is full of good links. https://newrepublic.com/article/158374/left-deafening-silence-uighur-china
@liaoshenyi's syllabus "Teaching the Oppression of Uighurs in a Philosophy Course" has a lot of great links that I didn't include here, but are all worth mentioning! https://medium.com/@samliao/teaching-the-oppression-of-uighurs-in-a-philosophy-course-c3d5456aa70e
The Xinjiang Documentation Project is a multi-disciplinary research project based at the Institute of Asian Research at UBC. https://xinjiang.sppga.ubc.ca/
@Magnus_Fiskesjo also maintains a very extensive bibliography. Since it is updated frequently, I will link to the bibliography web page rather than directly to the document: https://uhrp.org/featured-articles/chinas-re-education-concentration-camps-xinjiang
And @dtbyler has a good list of actions you can take to help people in Xinjiang: https://livingotherwise.com/2020/02/13/xinjiang-action-list/
That's it for now. This is just meant to be an introduction, not an exhaustive list, but feel free to add your own favorite links in the replies. I've avoided linking to books, but feel free to recommend your favorites.
Hopefully some people who have been reluctant to do something as simple as retweet stories about Xinjiang will feel more confident doing so after exploring some of the resources listed above. Please do! This issue is too important to leave to the right wingers…
Oops, I forgot to include this piece by @JimMillward which many people have recommended. Here it is! https://www.chinafile.com/library/nyrb-china-archive/reeducating-xinjiangs-muslims
