US-based chipmaker Intel has issued an apology to China for asking its suppliers to not source any products or labour from Xinjiang region.<o:p></o:p>

Towards the beginning of this month, Intel had sent out an annual letter to its suppliers In which it was mentioned that it had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services” from Xinjiang region of China.<o:p></o:p>

Intel’s move was harshly criticised in China as editorials of the Chinese government-backed newspaper, the Global Times, accused the company of biting 'the hand that feeds it'.

<o:p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-how-china-could-be-driving-up-global-inflation-439433">WATCH |</a></o:p>

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"What we need to do is to make it increasingly expensive for companies to offend China so their losses outweigh their gains," the newspaper said in an editorial.<o:p></o:p>

After the criticism, the company had to backtrack on its official word. Intel derives nearly more than a quarter of its $80bn (£60bn) of its annual revenue from the Chinese markets, and had to thus apologise to the people of China and its partners in the region.<o:p></o:p>

"We apologise for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public,"&nbsp;Intel&nbsp;said in a post on the social media site WeChat. "To clarify, the paragraph about Xinjiang in the letter is only for expressing the original intention of compliance and legality, not its intention or position."<o:p></o:p>

This controversy has come at a time when the US and other international governments and organisations have been accusing China of abusing human rights in the Xinjiang region. The Chinese government has been accused of harassing the minority Uyghur population through forced labour, torture, scarce basic and human rights. China has repeatedly denied these accusations.<o:p></o:p>

US-based chipmaker Intel has issued an apology to China for asking its suppliers to not source any products or labour from Xinjiang region. Towards the beginning of this month, Intel had sent out an annual letter to its suppliers In which it was mentioned that it had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services” from Xinjiang region of China.

US-based chipmaker Intel has issued an apology to China for asking its suppliers to not source any products or labour from Xinjiang region. Towards the beginning of this month, Intel had sent out an annual letter to its suppliers In which it was mentioned that it had been “required to ensure that its supply chain does not use any labour or source goods or services” from Xinjiang region of China. Intel’s move was harshly criticised in China as editorials of the Chinese government-backed newspaper, the Global Times, accused the company of biting 'the hand that feeds it'. WATCH | "What we need to do is to make it increasingly expensive for companies to offend China so their losses outweigh their gains," the newspaper said in an editorial. After the criticism, the company had to backtrack on its official word. Intel derives nearly more than a quarter of its $80bn (£60bn) of its annual revenue from the Chinese markets, and had to thus apologise to the people of China and its partners in the region. "We apologise for the trouble caused to our respected Chinese customers, partners and the public," Intel said in a post on the social media site WeChat. "To clarify, the paragraph about Xinjiang in the letter is only for expressing the original intention of compliance and legality, not its intention or position." This controversy has come at a time when the US and other international governments and organisations have been accusing China of abusing human rights in the Xinjiang region. The Chinese government has been accused of harassing the minority Uyghur population through forced labour, torture, scarce basic and human rights. China has repeatedly denied these accusations.

Intel apologises to Chinese population for hurting their sentiments over Xinjiang comments

The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to force companies to disclose products that come from China's&nbsp;Xinjiang&nbsp;region, in a new bid to stop what lawmakers say is widespread forced labor in the restive area.

The bill follows a broader act approved a week earlier that aims to ban imports from&nbsp;Xinjiang, contending that abuses of the Uighur people are so widespread that all goods from the region should be considered made with slave labor.

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/how-us-china-relationship-took-a-turn-for-the-worse-314882">How US-China relationship took a turn for the worse</a>

"The exploitation and enslavement of the Uighurs must stop. Americans don't want to purchase goods made with slave labor," said Representative Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat who led the latest effort.

The legislation would require all publicly traded companies to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission whether they are involved in&nbsp;Xinjiang, a major source of the global textile industry's yarn.

Unlike the broader act, which passed almost unanimously, the Uighur Forced Labor Disclosure Act drew opposition from most Republicans but passed 253-163 in the Democratic-led House.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-imposes-sanctions-on-chinese-officials-over-abuse-of-muslim-minorities-in-xinjiang-312101">US imposes sanctions on Chinese officials over 'abuse' of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang</a>

Its prospects are uncertain as it needs to clear the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans and consumed by discussions on a Supreme Court nomination and Covid-19 relief a month before elections.

Republicans raised objections after concerns voiced by the US Chamber of Commerce, which said that the regulations imposed an impossible burden on legitimate companies.

The business lobby drew a parallel with previous efforts to label minerals from conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, saying that companies had no reliable way to certify if products are free from abuses.

Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican, accused bill sponsor Wexton of wanting to appear tough on China and said a better approach was to impose sanctions on officials, as President Donald Trump's administration has done.

"The bill before us is nothing more than a press release for an election," he said.

Wexton, whose district in northern Virginia has a large Uighur American community, scoffed at the suggestion and said Republicans were ignoring abuses and "perhaps even genocide" in&nbsp;Xinjiang.

"Republicans talk a good game but only if it doesn't create any kind of burden on US corporations or their profit margins," she said.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute in a recent report said it had identified more than 380 suspected detention facilities where China is believed to have held more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people.

The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to force companies to disclose products that come from China's Xinjiang region, in a new bid to stop what lawmakers say is widespread forced labor in the restive area.

The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to force companies to disclose products that come from China's Xinjiang region, in a new bid to stop what lawmakers say is widespread forced labor in the restive area. The bill follows a broader act approved a week earlier that aims to ban imports from Xinjiang, contending that abuses of the Uighur people are so widespread that all goods from the region should be considered made with slave labor. Also see: How US-China relationship took a turn for the worse "The exploitation and enslavement of the Uighurs must stop. Americans don't want to purchase goods made with slave labor," said Representative Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat who led the latest effort. The legislation would require all publicly traded companies to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission whether they are involved in Xinjiang, a major source of the global textile industry's yarn. Unlike the broader act, which passed almost unanimously, the Uighur Forced Labor Disclosure Act drew opposition from most Republicans but passed 253-163 in the Democratic-led House. Also read: US imposes sanctions on Chinese officials over 'abuse' of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang Its prospects are uncertain as it needs to clear the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans and consumed by discussions on a Supreme Court nomination and Covid-19 relief a month before elections. Republicans raised objections after concerns voiced by the US Chamber of Commerce, which said that the regulations imposed an impossible burden on legitimate companies. The business lobby drew a parallel with previous efforts to label minerals from conflict-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, saying that companies had no reliable way to certify if products are free from abuses. Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican, accused bill sponsor Wexton of wanting to appear tough on China and said a better approach was to impose sanctions on officials, as President Donald Trump's administration has done. "The bill before us is nothing more than a press release for an election," he said. Wexton, whose district in northern Virginia has a large Uighur American community, scoffed at the suggestion and said Republicans were ignoring abuses and "perhaps even genocide" in Xinjiang. "Republicans talk a good game but only if it doesn't create any kind of burden on US corporations or their profit margins," she said. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute in a recent report said it had identified more than 380 suspected detention facilities where China is believed to have held more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people.

US passes bill requiring firms to disclose Xinjiang products

The United States said Monday it had lost hope for human rights progress in China 30 years after the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-state-run-daily-defended-the-governments-handling-of-the-tiananmen-protests-on-monday-223803">crackdown on Tiananmen Square</a> as Beijing, in rare official comments on the bloodshed, insisted it had "immunized" itself against turmoil.

As <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/twitter-apologises-for-blocked-china-accounts-ahead-of-tiananmen-anniversary-223682">China tried to impose a media blackout</a> ahead of Tuesday's anniversary of the 1989 assault on pro-democracy protesters, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saluted the "heroic protest movement," which he said still stirred "the conscience of freedom-loving people around the world."

"Over the decades that followed, the United States hoped that China's integration into the international system would lead to a more open, tolerant society. Those hopes have been dashed," Pompeo said.

"Today, Chinese citizens have been subjected to a new wave of abuses, especially in Xinjiang, where the Communist Party leadership is methodically attempting to strangle Uighur culture and stamp out the Islamic faith," he said.

An estimated <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-using-ai-to-identify-uighurs-across-the-country-reports-210712">one million Uighurs have been placed in detention in Xinjiang</a>, massive incarceration that China describes as vocational training to reduce radicalism.

On June 4, 1989, Beijing's communist rulers sent tanks and troops into Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of Chinese power, to crush a student-led movement that had been growing for seven weeks and featured a Goddess of Democracy statue that resembled the Statue of Liberty.

Hundreds of unarmed civilians, and <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/on-tiananmen-anniversary-us-tells-china-to-make-full-public-account-of-those-killed-detained-or-missing-142033">possibly more than 1,000 were killed</a>.

"We urge the Chinese government to make a full, public accounting of those killed or missing to give comfort to the many victims of this dark chapter of history," Pompeo said, calling on China to "release all those held for seeking to exercise" fundamental rights and freedoms.

Watch: 30 Years Of Pro-Democracy Protests In China

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'A political success'

With younger Chinese having no direct memories of the Tiananmen movement, Beijing has gone to exhaustive lengths to prevent commemorations, with authorities detaining activists and live streaming services conspicuously down for "technical" reasons.

But in an unusual step, China acknowledged -- and justified -- the Tiananmen crackdown in remarks geared at foreign audiences.

The English edition of the state-run Global Times tabloid called the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/at-least-10000-killed-in-1989-tiananmen-crackdown-british-cable-27564">handling of Tiananmen and its aftermath</a> "a political success."

"As a vaccination for... Chinese society, the Tiananmen incident will greatly increase China's immunity against any major political turmoil in the future," it said in an editorial published Monday.

And Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, speaking Sunday at a regional forum in Singapore, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinese-defence-minister-says-tiananmen-crackdown-was-justified-223616">defended the crackdown</a> when he responded to an audience question.

"That incident was political turbulence and the central government took measures to stop the turbulence which is a correct policy," he said.

China's economy has soared since Tiananmen to become the second largest in the world, with the United States under President Bill Clinton welcoming Beijing into the global trading order and hoping that rising prosperity would bring improvements in human rights.

In pics: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/tiananmens-key-moments-hope-crushed-by-soldiers-and-tanks-223563">Hope crushed by soldiers and tanks-Tiananmen's key moments&nbsp;</a>

President Donald Trump has voiced regret over China's trajectory on economic grounds as well. He has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods and accused Beijing of rampant theft of US technology, setting off an accelerating trade battle.

The Trump administration has raised human rights repeatedly with China, although it treads much more lightly when addressing rights issues in US-allied countries.

Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the United States needed to look inward and be more consistent on human rights as it tackled China's record.

"Unlike 30 years ago, when America stood with the brave Chinese people in the face of repression, we hear deafening silence from the White House at best and voices fanning the flames at worst," Menendez told a Tiananmen commemoration event at the National Endowment for Democracy.

The United States said Monday it had lost hope for human rights progress in China 30 years after the crackdown on Tiananmen Square as Beijing, in rare official comments on the bloodshed, insisted it had "immunized" itself against turmoil.

The United States said Monday it had lost hope for human rights progress in China 30 years after the crackdown on Tiananmen Square as Beijing, in rare official comments on the bloodshed, insisted it had "immunized" itself against turmoil. As China tried to impose a media blackout ahead of Tuesday's anniversary of the 1989 assault on pro-democracy protesters, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saluted the "heroic protest movement," which he said still stirred "the conscience of freedom-loving people around the world." "Over the decades that followed, the United States hoped that China's integration into the international system would lead to a more open, tolerant society. Those hopes have been dashed," Pompeo said. "Today, Chinese citizens have been subjected to a new wave of abuses, especially in Xinjiang, where the Communist Party leadership is methodically attempting to strangle Uighur culture and stamp out the Islamic faith," he said. An estimated one million Uighurs have been placed in detention in Xinjiang, massive incarceration that China describes as vocational training to reduce radicalism. On June 4, 1989, Beijing's communist rulers sent tanks and troops into Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of Chinese power, to crush a student-led movement that had been growing for seven weeks and featured a Goddess of Democracy statue that resembled the Statue of Liberty. Hundreds of unarmed civilians, and possibly more than 1,000 were killed. "We urge the Chinese government to make a full, public accounting of those killed or missing to give comfort to the many victims of this dark chapter of history," Pompeo said, calling on China to "release all those held for seeking to exercise" fundamental rights and freedoms. Watch: 30 Years Of Pro-Democracy Protests In China × 'A political success' With younger Chinese having no direct memories of the Tiananmen movement, Beijing has gone to exhaustive lengths to prevent commemorations, with authorities detaining activists and live streaming services conspicuously down for "technical" reasons. But in an unusual step, China acknowledged -- and justified -- the Tiananmen crackdown in remarks geared at foreign audiences. The English edition of the state-run Global Times tabloid called the handling of Tiananmen and its aftermath "a political success." "As a vaccination for... Chinese society, the Tiananmen incident will greatly increase China's immunity against any major political turmoil in the future," it said in an editorial published Monday. And Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, speaking Sunday at a regional forum in Singapore, defended the crackdown when he responded to an audience question. "That incident was political turbulence and the central government took measures to stop the turbulence which is a correct policy," he said. China's economy has soared since Tiananmen to become the second largest in the world, with the United States under President Bill Clinton welcoming Beijing into the global trading order and hoping that rising prosperity would bring improvements in human rights. In pics: Hope crushed by soldiers and tanks-Tiananmen's key moments President Donald Trump has voiced regret over China's trajectory on economic grounds as well. He has slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods and accused Beijing of rampant theft of US technology, setting off an accelerating trade battle. The Trump administration has raised human rights repeatedly with China, although it treads much more lightly when addressing rights issues in US-allied countries. Robert Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the United States needed to look inward and be more consistent on human rights as it tackled China's record. "Unlike 30 years ago, when America stood with the brave Chinese people in the face of repression, we hear deafening silence from the White House at best and voices fanning the flames at worst," Menendez told a Tiananmen commemoration event at the National Endowment for Democracy.

Post-Tiananmen, Chinese citizens subjected to new wave of abuses: US

A police raid on a Kazakh group documenting the plight of Kazakhs and Uyghurs caught in a brutal crackdown in China’s north-western province of Xinjiang is more than a government seeking to please Beijing in the hope that it improves a lot of its ethnic kin while preserving diplomatic and economic relations.

Amid suspicions that the raid on the offices of Atajurt Eriktileri and the arrest of activist Serikjhan Bilash was carried out as a result of Chinese pressure aimed at squashing criticism of the crackdown, the raid seemingly reflects an increasingly aggressive Chinese effort to impose its will on others and ensure that they observe the respect and deference that China believes it deserves.

Atajurt Eriktileri supports relatives of people who have disappeared in Xinjiang and says it has documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China.

Police on Sunday sealed the group’s office in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, seized the group’s computers and archives and flew Bilash, who said he was being accused of “inciting ethnic hatred, to the Kazakh capital of Astana.

The East Turkistan Awakening Movement, a Washington-based Uyghur exile group, said Bilash had been arrested on charges of "Creating tensions between #Kazakhstan and #China."

The Kazakh police raid is but the latest incident pointing to China’s more aggressive form of diplomacy that includes an increasing number of undiplomatic comments by Chinese diplomats across the globe.

At times, those comments are couched in civilizational terms steeped in what political scientist Zhang Weiwei describes as the rise of the civilizational state under President Xi Jinping.

Describing the trend towards a civilizational state that involves a rejection of Western concepts, including notions of human rights and freedom of religion, Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman noted that China was not alone in its embrace of the idea as an alternative to the traditional concept of a nation-state based on national borders and language. Rahman suggested that the concept was also gaining currency in countries like India and Russia.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi defended his diplomat’s more outspoken statements by pointing to China’s need to stand up for its “rightful and lawful interests.” Wang insisted that China would not tolerate infringements of its sovereignty and national dignity.

“Chinese diplomats, wherever we are in the world, will firmly state our position,” Wang told journalists this weekend covering the National People’s Congress.

Former senior Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan noted that “China does not just want its new status recognised as a geopolitical fact; China wants its new status accepted as a new norm of East Asian international relations; a hierarchy with China at the apex. Most countries accept the geopolitical fact; few accept the norm.”

Examples of China’s more aggressive attitude abound while the Kazakh raid suggests that China’s concepts of deference and respect amount to far more than traditional notions of respect. They also provide a potential insight into the values and norms that in China’s view would undergird a new world order.

China’s notion of deference was put on display last September at the Pacific Islands Forum when Beijing’s ambassador to Fiji, Du Qiwen, allegedly demanded the right to speak before Tuvalu prime minister Enele Sosene Sopoaga. The forum’s host, Nauru president Baron Waqa accused the Chinese envoy of being “insolent” and a “bully.”

Both Nauru and Tuvalu, to China’s chagrin, maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

Similarly, Papua New Guinea police were called after Chinese officials allegedly tried to force their way into the office of the country’s foreign minister in a bid to influence the final communique of last November’s Asia Pacific summit.

The summit ended without a final statement because of disagreements between the United States and China. Chinese officials dismissed the report of them having attempted to gain access to the foreign minister’s office as “a rumour spread by some people with a hidden agenda."

In an Op-ed in The Hill Times, an Ottawa-based newspaper, Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to Canada, described as “Western egotism and white supremacy” demands that China releases two Canadian nationals arrested in China.

The two Canadians are being held in apparent retaliation for the detention in Canada at the behest of the United States on charges of having misled banks about the company’s business dealings with Iran.

A series of incidents in the wake of a visit to Sweden last September by the Dalai Lama involving Chinese tourists and a satirical Swedish television show that poked fun at Chinese visitors and excluded Taiwan and parts of Tibet from a map of China drew the ire of the Chinese embassy in Stockholm.

The embassy denounced Swedish police as “inhumane,” decried “so-called freedom of expression,” charged that the TV show “advocate(s) racism and xenophobia outright, and openly provoke(s) and instigate(s) racial hatred and confrontation,” and issued a safety alert to Chinese tourists because of multiple cases of theft and robbery and poor treatment by Swedish police.

In line with Wang’s justification of his diplomats’ more undiplomatic approach, Brookings fellow Ryan Hass told Bloomberg that the envoys were “matching the mood of the moment in Beijing… Some in Beijing also seem to be growing frustrated that China’s rising national power is not yet translating into the types of deference from others that it seeks.”

The raid in Kazakhstan, like earlier cases such as Egypt’s return at China’s request in 2017 of up to 200 Uyghur students to an uncertain future in the People’s Republic, suggests that Beijing maintains an intrusive, far-reaching definition of its concept of deference and respect.

Kazakh activists charged that the raid was indicative of the kind of pressure applied by China. “Our government doesn’t want to spoil relations between Kazakhstan and China,” said Atajurt’s lawyer, Aiman Umarova.

There was no independent confirmation of assertions that Chinese pressure prompted the raid.

In a video statement, Bilash confirmed that he was Kazakh police custody and had not been detained “by either the Chinese or Chinese spies”.

Bilash’s wife, Leila Adilzhan, said she was "afraid our government will give him to China."

That may be one step too far for the Kazakh government given mounting anti-Chinese summit among Kazakhs and public demands that Kazakhstan is more forceful in its standing up to China for the rights of Kazakh nationals and Chinese citizens of Kazakh descent. Kazakhs constitute the second largest minority in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.) 
&nbsp;

A police raid on a Kazakh group documenting the plight of Kazakhs and Uyghurs caught in a brutal crackdown in China’s north-western province of Xinjiang is more than a government seeking to please Beijing in the hope that it improves a lot of its ethnic kin while preserving diplomatic and economic relations.

A police raid on a Kazakh group documenting the plight of Kazakhs and Uyghurs caught in a brutal crackdown in China’s north-western province of Xinjiang is more than a government seeking to please Beijing in the hope that it improves a lot of its ethnic kin while preserving diplomatic and economic relations. Amid suspicions that the raid on the offices of Atajurt Eriktileri and the arrest of activist Serikjhan Bilash was carried out as a result of Chinese pressure aimed at squashing criticism of the crackdown, the raid seemingly reflects an increasingly aggressive Chinese effort to impose its will on others and ensure that they observe the respect and deference that China believes it deserves. Atajurt Eriktileri supports relatives of people who have disappeared in Xinjiang and says it has documented more than 10,000 cases of ethnic Kazakhs interned in China. Police on Sunday sealed the group’s office in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, seized the group’s computers and archives and flew Bilash, who said he was being accused of “inciting ethnic hatred, to the Kazakh capital of Astana. The East Turkistan Awakening Movement, a Washington-based Uyghur exile group, said Bilash had been arrested on charges of "Creating tensions between #Kazakhstan and #China." The Kazakh police raid is but the latest incident pointing to China’s more aggressive form of diplomacy that includes an increasing number of undiplomatic comments by Chinese diplomats across the globe. At times, those comments are couched in civilizational terms steeped in what political scientist Zhang Weiwei describes as the rise of the civilizational state under President Xi Jinping. Describing the trend towards a civilizational state that involves a rejection of Western concepts, including notions of human rights and freedom of religion, Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman noted that China was not alone in its embrace of the idea as an alternative to the traditional concept of a nation-state based on national borders and language. Rahman suggested that the concept was also gaining currency in countries like India and Russia. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi defended his diplomat’s more outspoken statements by pointing to China’s need to stand up for its “rightful and lawful interests.” Wang insisted that China would not tolerate infringements of its sovereignty and national dignity. “Chinese diplomats, wherever we are in the world, will firmly state our position,” Wang told journalists this weekend covering the National People’s Congress. Former senior Singapore diplomat Bilahari Kausikan noted that “China does not just want its new status recognised as a geopolitical fact; China wants its new status accepted as a new norm of East Asian international relations; a hierarchy with China at the apex. Most countries accept the geopolitical fact; few accept the norm.” Examples of China’s more aggressive attitude abound while the Kazakh raid suggests that China’s concepts of deference and respect amount to far more than traditional notions of respect. They also provide a potential insight into the values and norms that in China’s view would undergird a new world order. China’s notion of deference was put on display last September at the Pacific Islands Forum when Beijing’s ambassador to Fiji, Du Qiwen, allegedly demanded the right to speak before Tuvalu prime minister Enele Sosene Sopoaga. The forum’s host, Nauru president Baron Waqa accused the Chinese envoy of being “insolent” and a “bully.” Both Nauru and Tuvalu, to China’s chagrin, maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Similarly, Papua New Guinea police were called after Chinese officials allegedly tried to force their way into the office of the country’s foreign minister in a bid to influence the final communique of last November’s Asia Pacific summit. The summit ended without a final statement because of disagreements between the United States and China. Chinese officials dismissed the report of them having attempted to gain access to the foreign minister’s office as “a rumour spread by some people with a hidden agenda." In an Op-ed in The Hill Times, an Ottawa-based newspaper, Lu Shaye, China’s ambassador to Canada, described as “Western egotism and white supremacy” demands that China releases two Canadian nationals arrested in China. The two Canadians are being held in apparent retaliation for the detention in Canada at the behest of the United States on charges of having misled banks about the company’s business dealings with Iran. A series of incidents in the wake of a visit to Sweden last September by the Dalai Lama involving Chinese tourists and a satirical Swedish television show that poked fun at Chinese visitors and excluded Taiwan and parts of Tibet from a map of China drew the ire of the Chinese embassy in Stockholm. The embassy denounced Swedish police as “inhumane,” decried “so-called freedom of expression,” charged that the TV show “advocate(s) racism and xenophobia outright, and openly provoke(s) and instigate(s) racial hatred and confrontation,” and issued a safety alert to Chinese tourists because of multiple cases of theft and robbery and poor treatment by Swedish police. In line with Wang’s justification of his diplomats’ more undiplomatic approach, Brookings fellow Ryan Hass told Bloomberg that the envoys were “matching the mood of the moment in Beijing… Some in Beijing also seem to be growing frustrated that China’s rising national power is not yet translating into the types of deference from others that it seeks.” The raid in Kazakhstan, like earlier cases such as Egypt’s return at China’s request in 2017 of up to 200 Uyghur students to an uncertain future in the People’s Republic, suggests that Beijing maintains an intrusive, far-reaching definition of its concept of deference and respect. Kazakh activists charged that the raid was indicative of the kind of pressure applied by China. “Our government doesn’t want to spoil relations between Kazakhstan and China,” said Atajurt’s lawyer, Aiman Umarova. There was no independent confirmation of assertions that Chinese pressure prompted the raid. In a video statement, Bilash confirmed that he was Kazakh police custody and had not been detained “by either the Chinese or Chinese spies”. Bilash’s wife, Leila Adilzhan, said she was "afraid our government will give him to China." That may be one step too far for the Kazakh government given mounting anti-Chinese summit among Kazakhs and public demands that Kazakhstan is more forceful in its standing up to China for the rights of Kazakh nationals and Chinese citizens of Kazakh descent. Kazakhs constitute the second largest minority in Xinjiang after Uyghurs. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

The Kazakh window into China's crackdown on Muslims

After China's state media released a video it claimed was of <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/china-rejects-turkey-criticism-on-uighurs-denies-poet-died-196702">Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit </a>who it said was alive, several members of the ethnic Uighur community asked China to show videos of their family members and relatives who allegedly disappeared in China's restive Xinjiang province.

Soon after the video was shown publicly, #MeTooUyghur began trending on Twitter with several <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/china-denies-holding-uighur-muslims-captive-159141">Uighur activists living </a>outside China slamming the government and urging it to show videos of their relatives.

An activist on Twitter, Maryam @maryamhanim said: "My husband #MuhtarRozi &nbsp;must be free immediately!, adding, "my parents must be released right now I am very anxious about them. Where are they now? Are they all safe or not?"

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Show me the Video of them as you show <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbdurehimHeyit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AbdurehimHeyit</a>’s video . <a href="https://t.co/J0fltMgtKX">https://t.co/J0fltMgtKX</a>
— maryam (@maryamhanim) <a href="https://twitter.com/maryamhanim/status/1095097940136337408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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"Chinese government should answer my questions, if they are still considering themselves doing right," the activist said. The post was retweeted several times.

Another activist, Hendan @Hendan_Hiyal hit out against the Chinese government saying: My cousin, Erpat Ablekrem, 25, fr Ghulja (Nothern city of East Turkistan), professional football player. He was taken to the concentration camp in March 2018.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MeTooUyghur?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MeTooUyghur</a> 
This is my cousin, Erpat Ablekrem, 25, fr Ghulja (Nothern city of East Turkistan), professional football player. He was taken to the concentration camp in March 2018. 
I ask Chinese govern to free my innocent cousin from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NaziChinesecamps?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NaziChinesecamps</a>. <a href="https://t.co/N83eIN7JBE">pic.twitter.com/N83eIN7JBE</a>
— Hendan (@Hendan_Hiyal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Hendan_Hiyal/status/1095042584697847808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Turkey had said China's treatment of ethnic Uighur was "a great embarrassment for humanity," adding to rights groups' recent criticism over mass detentions of the Turkic-speaking minority.

"The systematic assimilation policy of Chinese authorities towards Uighur Turks is a great embarrassment for humanity," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy had said in a statement.

Turkey called on the international community and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres "to take effective steps to end the human tragedy in the Xinjiang region."

The US has often lashed out at China over the Uighur issue. Last year, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo had said that "hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of Uighurs are held against their will in so-called re-education camps where they're forced to endure severe political indoctrination and other awful abuses.

China has however denied any wrongdoing over the Uighur issue. It has consistenly maintained it has been trying to asslimate the ethinic Uighurs into society.

However, a UN report had said last year that&nbsp;it had received many credible reports that one&nbsp;million ethnic Uighurs in China were being held in what resembled a "massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy".

&nbsp;

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After China's state media released a video it claimed was of Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit who it said was alive, several members of the ethnic Uighur community asked China to show videos of their family members and relatives who allegedly disappeared in China's restive Xinjiang province.

After China's state media released a video it claimed was of Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit who it said was alive, several members of the ethnic Uighur community asked China to show videos of their family members and relatives who allegedly disappeared in China's restive Xinjiang province. Soon after the video was shown publicly, #MeTooUyghur began trending on Twitter with several Uighur activists living outside China slamming the government and urging it to show videos of their relatives. An activist on Twitter, Maryam @maryamhanim said: "My husband #MuhtarRozi must be free immediately!, adding, "my parents must be released right now I am very anxious about them. Where are they now? Are they all safe or not?" Show me the Video of them as you show #AbdurehimHeyit’s video . https://t.co/J0fltMgtKX — maryam (@maryamhanim) February 11, 2019 × "Chinese government should answer my questions, if they are still considering themselves doing right," the activist said. The post was retweeted several times. Another activist, Hendan @Hendan_Hiyal hit out against the Chinese government saying: My cousin, Erpat Ablekrem, 25, fr Ghulja (Nothern city of East Turkistan), professional football player. He was taken to the concentration camp in March 2018. #MeTooUyghur This is my cousin, Erpat Ablekrem, 25, fr Ghulja (Nothern city of East Turkistan), professional football player. He was taken to the concentration camp in March 2018. I ask Chinese govern to free my innocent cousin from #NaziChinesecamps. pic.twitter.com/N83eIN7JBE — Hendan (@Hendan_Hiyal) February 11, 2019 × Turkey had said China's treatment of ethnic Uighur was "a great embarrassment for humanity," adding to rights groups' recent criticism over mass detentions of the Turkic-speaking minority. "The systematic assimilation policy of Chinese authorities towards Uighur Turks is a great embarrassment for humanity," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy had said in a statement. Turkey called on the international community and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres "to take effective steps to end the human tragedy in the Xinjiang region." The US has often lashed out at China over the Uighur issue. Last year, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo had said that "hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of Uighurs are held against their will in so-called re-education camps where they're forced to endure severe political indoctrination and other awful abuses. China has however denied any wrongdoing over the Uighur issue. It has consistenly maintained it has been trying to asslimate the ethinic Uighurs into society. However, a UN report had said last year that it had received many credible reports that one million ethnic Uighurs in China were being held in what resembled a "massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy".

Show us video, information of missing relatives, Uighur activists lash out at China

A disagreement between major Indonesian religious leaders and the government on how to respond to China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims raises questions about the Islamic World’s ability to sustain its silence about what amounts to one of the most concerted assaults on the faith in recent history.

Rejecting a call on the government by the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s top clerical body, to condemn the crackdown that has seen up to one million Turkic Muslims detained in re-education camps in China’s north-western province of Xinjiang, Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla insisted that the government would not interfere in the internal affairs of others.

The disagreement could take on greater significance after elections in April next year which incumbent president Joko Widodo is expected to win Widodo’s vice-presidential running mate, Maruf Amin, is the ulema’s council’s chairman. Since joining the presidential ticket, Amin has retained his council position as non-active chairman.

Nonetheless, eager to attract Chinese infrastructure investment, Kalla’s position is in line with a majority of Muslim countries, who have opted to remain silent in a bid not to jeopardise relations with the People’s Republic even if many of them have responded angrily to far less threatening incidents such as the condemnation of British writer Salman Rushdie for his novel, The Satanic Verses; the cartoon depiction in Denmark of the Prophet Mohammed; and the burning of a Quran by an American pastor.

In a similar vein, Mushahid Hussain, chairman of Pakistan’s Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said the cardinal principle of Pakistan-China relations was to refrain from commenting on anything to do with another other country’s domestic issues even though some 200 small Pakistani businessmen have been campaigning for the release of their Uyghur spouses from Chinese camps and either the &nbsp;lifting of travel bans on their children or being allowed to visit them.

&nbsp;“Given the relationship of Pakistan with China, and in the Muslim world, in particular, the Chinese narrative is apparently being accepted across the board as the one that is correct,” Hussain told Associated Press.

By the same token, Turkey with its ethnic and cultural links to China’s Turkic Muslims and past support for Uyghur aspirations has adopted a similar attitude as Chinese investment and financial aid expands.

With the exception of a few protests in Bangladesh and India and critical statements by Malaysian leaders, Muslims across the globe have largely refrained from pressuring their governments to speak out about developments in Xinjiang. If anything, China retains its status of Asia’s top tourism destination for Muslim travellers.

Nabeel Shariff, the founder of UK-based halal holiday company Serendipity Tailormade, struggled with the ethical aspects of promoting Muslim tourism to China, but concluded that “In a way, it makes sure the Uygur community are not forgotten.”

Shariff’s justification notwithstanding, there is little public evidence of the plight of China’s Turkic Muslims being in the Muslim public eye. Muslim and Chinese leaders appear to be betting that the silence is sustainable. That threatens to be a risky strategy.

For one, the crackdown in Xinjiang is expanding to the Hui, China’s non-Turkic Muslims. The autonomous region of Ningxia Hui recently signed a cooperation agreement on anti-terrorism with Xinjiang in a bid to learn from the crackdown on the Turkic Muslims or in the words of the Global Times, a Communist Party organ, “to learn from Xinjiang's experiences in promoting social stability.”

Mounting Western criticism of the crackdown, that is toughest on Muslims, but also targets other religious groups, including evangelists, puts Muslim nations on the spot. The criticism is likely to lead to Western companies boycotting products made in Xinjiang by inmates of the re-education camps, which China describes as institutions for vocational training or people who were recently released but forced to work in factories associated with the crackdown.

An Associated Press investigation published this week tracked the shipment of sportswear from a factory linked to the camps to Badger Sportswear in the United States that supplies university bookshops and sports teams around the country. “We will voluntarily halt sourcing and will move production elsewhere while we investigate the matters raised,” said Badger CEO John Anton.

New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, called on the Trump Administration to ban imports from Chinese companies associated with detention camps.

A potential black swan is an anti-Chinese sentiment in a number of Muslim countries, some of which have ethnic links to China’s Turkic Muslims, as a result of perceptions of Chinese commercial terms for project finance and loans associated with the People’s Republic’s infrastructure-driven Belt and Road initiative that are perceived to be debt traps.

In an illustration of the risk, Kunaysh Sultanov, a member of the Kazakh parliament and former deputy prime minister and ambassador to China, took issue with the government’s walking a tightrope, attempting to balance its relations with its need to stand up for the rights of Kazaks.

“There should be talks taking place with the Chinese delegates. Every delegation that goes there should be bringing this topic up… The key issue is that of the human rights of ethnic Kazakhs in any country of the world being respected,” Sultanov said after a Chinese camp worker of Kazakh descent who had escaped to the Central Asian republic testified in court about what she had witnessed. 
 
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

A disagreement between major Indonesian religious leaders and the government on how to respond to China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims raises questions about the Islamic World’s ability to sustain its silence about what amounts to one of the most concerted assaults on the faith in recent history.

A disagreement between major Indonesian religious leaders and the government on how to respond to China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims raises questions about the Islamic World’s ability to sustain its silence about what amounts to one of the most concerted assaults on the faith in recent history. Rejecting a call on the government by the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s top clerical body, to condemn the crackdown that has seen up to one million Turkic Muslims detained in re-education camps in China’s north-western province of Xinjiang, Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla insisted that the government would not interfere in the internal affairs of others. The disagreement could take on greater significance after elections in April next year which incumbent president Joko Widodo is expected to win Widodo’s vice-presidential running mate, Maruf Amin, is the ulema’s council’s chairman. Since joining the presidential ticket, Amin has retained his council position as non-active chairman. Nonetheless, eager to attract Chinese infrastructure investment, Kalla’s position is in line with a majority of Muslim countries, who have opted to remain silent in a bid not to jeopardise relations with the People’s Republic even if many of them have responded angrily to far less threatening incidents such as the condemnation of British writer Salman Rushdie for his novel, The Satanic Verses; the cartoon depiction in Denmark of the Prophet Mohammed; and the burning of a Quran by an American pastor. In a similar vein, Mushahid Hussain, chairman of Pakistan’s Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said the cardinal principle of Pakistan-China relations was to refrain from commenting on anything to do with another other country’s domestic issues even though some 200 small Pakistani businessmen have been campaigning for the release of their Uyghur spouses from Chinese camps and either the lifting of travel bans on their children or being allowed to visit them. “Given the relationship of Pakistan with China, and in the Muslim world, in particular, the Chinese narrative is apparently being accepted across the board as the one that is correct,” Hussain told Associated Press. By the same token, Turkey with its ethnic and cultural links to China’s Turkic Muslims and past support for Uyghur aspirations has adopted a similar attitude as Chinese investment and financial aid expands. With the exception of a few protests in Bangladesh and India and critical statements by Malaysian leaders, Muslims across the globe have largely refrained from pressuring their governments to speak out about developments in Xinjiang. If anything, China retains its status of Asia’s top tourism destination for Muslim travellers. Nabeel Shariff, the founder of UK-based halal holiday company Serendipity Tailormade, struggled with the ethical aspects of promoting Muslim tourism to China, but concluded that “In a way, it makes sure the Uygur community are not forgotten.” Shariff’s justification notwithstanding, there is little public evidence of the plight of China’s Turkic Muslims being in the Muslim public eye. Muslim and Chinese leaders appear to be betting that the silence is sustainable. That threatens to be a risky strategy. For one, the crackdown in Xinjiang is expanding to the Hui, China’s non-Turkic Muslims. The autonomous region of Ningxia Hui recently signed a cooperation agreement on anti-terrorism with Xinjiang in a bid to learn from the crackdown on the Turkic Muslims or in the words of the Global Times, a Communist Party organ, “to learn from Xinjiang's experiences in promoting social stability.” Mounting Western criticism of the crackdown, that is toughest on Muslims, but also targets other religious groups, including evangelists, puts Muslim nations on the spot. The criticism is likely to lead to Western companies boycotting products made in Xinjiang by inmates of the re-education camps, which China describes as institutions for vocational training or people who were recently released but forced to work in factories associated with the crackdown. An Associated Press investigation published this week tracked the shipment of sportswear from a factory linked to the camps to Badger Sportswear in the United States that supplies university bookshops and sports teams around the country. “We will voluntarily halt sourcing and will move production elsewhere while we investigate the matters raised,” said Badger CEO John Anton. New Jersey Republican Congressman Chris Smith, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, called on the Trump Administration to ban imports from Chinese companies associated with detention camps. A potential black swan is an anti-Chinese sentiment in a number of Muslim countries, some of which have ethnic links to China’s Turkic Muslims, as a result of perceptions of Chinese commercial terms for project finance and loans associated with the People’s Republic’s infrastructure-driven Belt and Road initiative that are perceived to be debt traps. In an illustration of the risk, Kunaysh Sultanov, a member of the Kazakh parliament and former deputy prime minister and ambassador to China, took issue with the government’s walking a tightrope, attempting to balance its relations with its need to stand up for the rights of Kazaks. “There should be talks taking place with the Chinese delegates. Every delegation that goes there should be bringing this topic up… The key issue is that of the human rights of ethnic Kazakhs in any country of the world being respected,” Sultanov said after a Chinese camp worker of Kazakh descent who had escaped to the Central Asian republic testified in court about what she had witnessed. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Xinjiang crackdown: China and the Islamic world’s Achilles Heel

US lawmakers will introduce legislation on Wednesday urging a stronger response by the Trump administration to China’s crackdown on minority Muslims, including possible sanctions against a regional Communist Party chief and other officials accused of human rights abuses.

The legislation will also ask President Donald Trump to condemn China’s actions in the Xinjiang region, call for a new “special coordinator” of US policy on the issue and press for consideration of a ban on export of US technology that Beijing could use in surveillance and mass detention of ethnic Uighurs, according to a copy of the measure seen by Reuters.

The lawmakers want the Trump administration to consider human rights-related sanctions against Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, who is also a member of the powerful politburo, and other officials “credibly alleged to be responsible” for the security crackdown, the measure will say.

“Chinese government officials should be held accountable for their complicity in this evil and US businesses should be barred from helping China create a high-tech police state in Xinjiang," said Republican US Representative Chris Smith, one of the sponsors of the bipartisan legislation that will be presented in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

The White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill, which is also being put forth by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez

Trump’s senior aides recently have become more vocal in their criticism of China’s treatment of its minority Muslims in Xinjiang, which has sparked an international outcry. Any sanctions, however, would be a rare move on human rights grounds by the Trump administration against China, with which it is engaged in a bitter trade war.

Beijing has dismissed accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, urging the United States and other countries to stay out of its internal affairs.

China’s top diplomat said earlier on Tuesday that the world should ignore "gossip" about developments in Xinjiang and trust authorities there, when asked if Beijing would allow international observers to inspect camps holding Muslims there.

Western countries including Canada, France, Germany, and the United States have urged China to shut down camps in Xinjiang, where activists say as many as 1 million members of the Uighur minority and other Muslims are being detained. Far western Xinjiang faces a threat from Islamist militants and separatists, China has said in the past.

Rubio said in a statement that some Chinese officials were responsible for "possible crimes against humanity."

The Trump administration for several months has been weighing sanctions against Chinese officials and companies operating in Xinjiang, US officials have said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The new bill calls for consideration of measures under the Global Magnitsky Act, which hits rights violators with freezes on US assets, US travel bans, and prohibitions on Americans doing business with them, and also under a federal law to target those involved in religious repression around the world.

It will urge the administration to report back to Congress on Chinese companies involved in the camps and ask the FBI to take action against any Chinese government efforts to intimidate Uighurs living in the United States. 
&nbsp;

US lawmakers will introduce legislation on Wednesday urging a stronger response by the Trump administration to China’s crackdown on minority Muslims, including possible sanctions against a regional Communist Party chief and other officials accused of human rights abuses.

US lawmakers will introduce legislation on Wednesday urging a stronger response by the Trump administration to China’s crackdown on minority Muslims, including possible sanctions against a regional Communist Party chief and other officials accused of human rights abuses. The legislation will also ask President Donald Trump to condemn China’s actions in the Xinjiang region, call for a new “special coordinator” of US policy on the issue and press for consideration of a ban on export of US technology that Beijing could use in surveillance and mass detention of ethnic Uighurs, according to a copy of the measure seen by Reuters. The lawmakers want the Trump administration to consider human rights-related sanctions against Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, who is also a member of the powerful politburo, and other officials “credibly alleged to be responsible” for the security crackdown, the measure will say. “Chinese government officials should be held accountable for their complicity in this evil and US businesses should be barred from helping China create a high-tech police state in Xinjiang," said Republican US Representative Chris Smith, one of the sponsors of the bipartisan legislation that will be presented in both the Senate and House of Representatives. The White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the bill, which is also being put forth by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez Trump’s senior aides recently have become more vocal in their criticism of China’s treatment of its minority Muslims in Xinjiang, which has sparked an international outcry. Any sanctions, however, would be a rare move on human rights grounds by the Trump administration against China, with which it is engaged in a bitter trade war. Beijing has dismissed accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, urging the United States and other countries to stay out of its internal affairs. China’s top diplomat said earlier on Tuesday that the world should ignore "gossip" about developments in Xinjiang and trust authorities there, when asked if Beijing would allow international observers to inspect camps holding Muslims there. Western countries including Canada, France, Germany, and the United States have urged China to shut down camps in Xinjiang, where activists say as many as 1 million members of the Uighur minority and other Muslims are being detained. Far western Xinjiang faces a threat from Islamist militants and separatists, China has said in the past. Rubio said in a statement that some Chinese officials were responsible for "possible crimes against humanity." The Trump administration for several months has been weighing sanctions against Chinese officials and companies operating in Xinjiang, US officials have said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The new bill calls for consideration of measures under the Global Magnitsky Act, which hits rights violators with freezes on US assets, US travel bans, and prohibitions on Americans doing business with them, and also under a federal law to target those involved in religious repression around the world. It will urge the administration to report back to Congress on Chinese companies involved in the camps and ask the FBI to take action against any Chinese government efforts to intimidate Uighurs living in the United States.

US to introduce legislation to urge possible China sanctions over Xinjiang crackdown

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