In recent days, the Chinese Communist Party authorities have continued their campaign against the international boycott of Xinjiang cotton, which is suspected of being produced using forced labor. Observers have noted that the Communist authorities are struggling to deal with a range of issues such as ethnic discrimination, religious persecution, and basic human rights highlighted by the topic of cotton in Xinjiang.
Last Year’s Old Case, This Year’s Hot Topic
Recently, the Swedish-based international fashion company H&M has been the target of public criticism and consumer boycotts under Chinese Communist Party control as the United States, Canada and the European Union have publicly attacked Chinese authorities for practices in Xinjiang that they view as serious human rights abuses or have imposed sanctions on Chinese officials involved. The company issued a statement last year expressing deep concern over the issue of forced labor involved in cotton production in Xinjiang.
International brands Nike (Nike), Adidas (Adidas), Burberry (Burberry) and other multinational apparel companies that are considered by Chinese Communist authorities to have the same problem are being treated the same way in China. But sources from China say that H&M appears to be getting special treatment in China, where not only are its products missing from e-commerce platforms, but the coordinates of its physical store addresses are also missing from online platforms like Apple Maps and Baidu Maps.
At the same time, the Chinese media under the control of the Communist authorities have launched a massive propaganda campaign against the Chinese public, convincing them on the one hand that the refusal of companies in Western countries to use cotton from Xinjiang, which is suspected of being produced using forced labor, and the criticism of the Chinese authorities by Western countries on the Xinjiang issue, are part of a conspiracy by Western countries, such as the United States, to try to contain and combat China, and on the other hand responding in a veiled and twisted way to the concerns of Western countries and companies’ concerns about forced labor in Xinjiang, claiming that cotton in Xinjiang is already largely mechanized and therefore cannot be a problem.
This propaganda campaign by the Chinese authorities is reflected in the following headlines.
–Xinjiang Cotton, Just Part of a “Big Conspiracy” by the U.S. and the West (Sina News Center, March 29)
–Disinformation about Xinjiang cotton reveals once again the hegemonic mentality and hypocrisy of the U.S. and the West (Guangming Daily, March 30)
— 60-second view of Xinjiang’s machine-picked cotton (Xinhua, March 30)
On the other hand, on the Internet, which is closely monitored and controlled by the Chinese Communist authorities, there are a lot of “pro-Xinjiang cotton” statements, and the spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has had to respond to the Xinjiang issue frequently in recent days. This situation has led to a partial lifting of the ban on “Xinjiang,” a taboo word on China’s Internet in recent years, and has led some Chinese netizens to make statements that the Communist authorities clearly do not want, such as.
“How long has it been since a word was replaced by a symbol, and because of the United States, Chinese people can finally type Chinese words with pleasure. See if the word is familiar? Xinjiang.”
“Language is also available for a limited time. Words that at one time even felt trepidation in typing abbreviations, words that had to be withdrawn in a hurry after being accidentally sent out, words that would always end up being deleted no matter what harmonics or pronouns were used to type them out, suddenly could be said out loud with a straight face. I could shout that word loudly and write it in large bold font as if it had never disappeared. I stare at the word, but I still just read it and write it in silence, without uttering a word.”
Xinjiang cotton brings up ethnic and human rights issues
Observers and scholars who track Chinese politics and the CCP authorities’ opinion control tactics point out that for years, the most common tactic used by the CCP authorities to control public opinion has been to prohibit the raising of topics that the CCP dislikes or keywords related to such topics, or to block/block information about them. This has often led to a comical situation.
One of the most prominent examples of this is the 11-year sentence given to dissident Liu Xiaobo by the CCP authorities for inciting subversion of state power. Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while serving his sentence. However, the Chinese Communist authorities have blocked from the Chinese public evidence of Liu Xiaobo’s alleged guilt, namely the Charter 08, which he led in drafting. The charter calls for freedom of speech, human rights and free elections, and demands that the CCP return power to the people, practice democracy and implement a federal system to resolve ethnic conflicts.
Critics point out that the “Xinjiang” and “Uyghur” charters are being held at a time when the Chinese Communist authorities are attracting international attention for their religious and cultural repression and persecution of Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang, and for their massive illegal detention in concentration camps called “vocational skills education and training centers. The terms “Xinjiang” and “Uyghur” have become taboo words on the Communist Party-controlled Internet, and posts containing such taboo words are blocked by China’s Internet opinion monitoring authorities even if the taboo words are typed with harmonies, pronouns, or phonetic initials.
The topic of Xinjiang was partially unblocked when the Chinese authorities countered Western condemnation and sanctions against the Chinese authorities for human rights abuses in Xinjiang by punishing foreign companies that declared their concern about forced labor in Xinjiang, and by launching a propaganda campaign calling on the Chinese public to support cotton in Xinjiang, with many Chinese netizens pointing out the problems with this call by the authorities to.
–support for cotton, support for big plate chicken, support for Hami melon, support for mutton skewers, just not for the people there —- Is it subconsciously true that the people there exist only to produce these goods for their own consumption?
— I’ve hated this since the beginning of the epidemic, using an item to replace a real person, calling for the item, not seeming to care if the worker gets paid on time, like the people calling for Wuhan hot dry noodles, not seeming to care much about what happens to Wuhan people who go to other provinces and cities. Using an item to show one’s love for one’s fellow countrymen is actually a cover for the fact that one does not love people at all.
— Calling for the item is the safest and most hypocritical. It is better to consider the human condition than to cotton cotton cotton every day.
To some observers who study Chinese politics today, it is clear that these statements by Chinese netizens are also a veiled attack on Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee and China’s president, because simply expressing support for a product somewhere while ignoring the plight of the people there is exactly what Xi himself has done.
Critics say that during the fight against China’s new coronavirus outbreak, also known as Wuhan pneumonia, which Xi Jinping claims he “personally deployed and directed,” violations of basic human rights, including prohibiting people in infected areas from seeking life-threatening emergency medical treatment, were widespread, with Wuhaners and Hubeiers being the first to do so, and that Xi Jinping-led Xi Jinping, in his speech at the “National Commendation Conference for the Fight against the New Pneumonia Epidemic” held last September, did not review or apologize to the people of Wuhan and Hubei, but simply said, “Let’s go for hot dry noodles! “.
Hot dry noodles are a snack in Wuhan.
Chinese netizens’ compassion and human rights awareness
Over the past decade, as the issue of Xinjiang and the Uighur people has become increasingly sensitive for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities, they have tightened their control over speech on topics related to Xinjiang and the Uighur people. This situation has led many to suspect and complain that Han Chinese, who make up the majority of China’s population, are self-serving, lack compassion, and turn a blind eye to the plight of ethnic minorities.
However, with the Communist authorities calling on the public to support Xinjiang cotton and the partial lifting of the ban on the word “Xinjiang” and topics related to Xinjiang in China, many Chinese netizens have taken the risk of speaking out, demonstrating to the outside world that they do not lack compassion and have a clear understanding of basic human rights and that the fate of the Xinjiang people (Uighurs) is tied to theirs. destiny is closely related to.
— I support workers in Xinjiang and across the country to work with dignity, receive necessary labor protection, receive reasonable labor compensation, have the right to participate in the democratic management of factories, and have the ability to say no to exploitation in the workplace.
— I support the freedom of all people whose first language is not Mandarin to use their own language, and that language is not forcibly replaced by Mandarin in the education system.
–I support the freedom of religion, the freedom to retain one’s identity, and the freedom to pass on one’s culture for workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang and across the country.
— I do think that since Xinjiang super language is also normal, and the general public is full of love for Xinjiang, and there is no need to replace the name with the initials in Pinyin, so take this opportunity to support Xinjiang and love Xinjiang netizens to solve all the difficulties encountered by fellow Xinjiang citizens living in other provinces and cities in China together, I think you Not just love items, you also quite love people, love people, let them at least be able to live in hotels and rent rooms without fear.
–I support the ordinary people of Xinjiang, I support the people of Xinjiang who are engaged in related work to be happy and well and earn a lot of money, and I support the people of Xinjiang not to be treated “special” in the whole country, to be treated equally by others, to be able to travel, stay in hotels, take up jobs, etc. on an equal footing.
–Don’t just support cotton! Support Xinjiang people to get passports, support Xinjiang people to stay in hotels in the mainland, support Xinjiang people to go abroad, support Xinjiang people not to be treated equally, support Xinjiang people not to have their cell phones checked, support Xinjiang people not to be treated equally ……
Ilshat H. Kokbore, director of the China Affairs Department of the World Uighur Congress, a Uighur rights organization, said he was very pleased to see and hear these words from Han Chinese, indicating that the indefatigable popular education of human rights concepts after decades of suppression by human rights lawyers, civic movements, and intellectuals of conscience who have braved arrest, sentencing, and imprisonment has had an effect.
Speaking to Voice of America, Irishati said, “Their civic movement, human rights education and enlightenment in China has had some effect. It means that the people of China know that human rights are universal. This is a good sign. …… I am very happy about this. I also affirm this approach of theirs and admire them for putting these words out within China. It’s encouraging.”
Sheng Xue, a democracy and human rights activist and writer based in Toronto, Canada, said, “This time the Chinese Communist Party wants to steer public opinion, opinion throughout China in the direction it wants, but as soon as it breaks down one brick [of the information blockade wall], part of the real public opinion comes spilling out, so to speak.”
Sheng Xue went on to say, “Often people use the so-called public opinion to say how much Chinese people support the current ruling party and how much they support the policies of the CCP. These claims are based on a false foundation. Public opinion without the right to free expression is never real public opinion. The situation in Xinjiang shows that even if a brick is removed from the wall, people will cherish the truth that they see through the cracks of that brick.”
How representative is the public opinion on the Chinese Internet of those sympathetic to the Uighurs in China during the period when the term “Xinjiang” was partially lifted (but the term “Uighur” is still tightly controlled)? Yilishati’s answer to this question is that it is difficult to judge public opinion in China because of the tight embargo, but he believes that Han Chinese people love freedom, their human dignity and equality as much as Uyghurs do. For example, when the word “Xinjiang” is banned, we can see that people love freedom no matter what ethnicity they are, no matter where they are.
Illy Shati said, “It is human nature to oppose tyranny. No one likes to be enslaved, to be a slave. As long as we tell them the truth (that Uyghurs are oppressed and enslaved), combined with the injustice and unfairness around ourselves, I believe we can have a huge impact on public opinion (in China).”
The Beijing government’s propaganda and its problems
The issue of cotton in Xinjiang highlights the serious human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist authorities in Xinjiang. Western countries have imposed sanctions on a number of Chinese officials and organizations, while Chinese authorities have imposed sanctions on a number of research institutions and scholars in Western countries. At the same time, the official Chinese media released this news report.
“On March 23, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying hosted a regular press conference. A reporter asked whether China is concerned about the series of sanctions adopted yesterday, which is the first time that Western countries have taken coordinated and joint action on issues related to the border. Hua Chunying said, first of all, I would like to say that yesterday we saw that they obviously have coordinated actions, and this should be true. But are you saying that we are worried? I want to tell you very frankly that we are not worried at all. Because the population of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada combined is only 5.7 percent of the world’s population, and with all the population of the European Union, it’s only about 11 percent of the world’s total population, and China’s population is one-fifth of the world’s total population. The voices of these countries do not represent international public opinion, their positions do not represent the position of the international community, and they are even less entitled and qualified to represent the international community.”
Yilishati said that Hua Chunying’s remark was very childish and ridiculous. He said, “I think this is the spirit of Ah Q, self-congratulation and finding all kinds of excuses. If you want to comfort yourself, you have to find reasons to support yourself with this comforting statement. So she said this. But the Chinese Foreign Ministry itself knows very well …… They need the US, they need the EU, and the economic agreement with the EU, they need both. They need it economically, they need it technologically, and they need the West in many, many ways.”
Yilishati went on to say that not long ago senior Communist Party officials publicly told the United States that the United States is a major power and dominates the world landscape, and that China has no intention of challenging the United States; while the United States has recently taken sanctions against Chinese officials, senior Communist Party official Yang Jiechi is still coming to the United States to Alaska, and although Yang has issued a ruthless statement about war-wolf diplomacy, why would he come to the United States for talks with the United States if he does not need it?
Writer Sheng Xue, on the other hand, said that Hua Chunying’s numbers game is too low-tech. She said, “The number of Chinese Communist Party members is said to be 90 million. But the population of China is 1.4 billion. So how come these 90 million people can represent the 1.4 billion people’s right to decide on anything and speak out externally? And in fact, it is a very small core group within the Chinese Communist Party that represents the Communist Party group and the people under the jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist Party that speaks out. She (Hua Chunying) is clearly contradicting herself.”
Critics say that a key feature of China’s war-wolf diplomacy under Xi Jinping is self-contradiction, of which Hua Chunying is a representative. For example, the other day Hua Chunying showed historical photos of American black slaves forced to pick cotton at a Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference when she rebutted criticism from the United States and other Western countries that China uses forced labor to pick cotton in Xinjiang, seeming to clearly imply that China is also using slave labor.
In addition, Chinese authorities have launched a propaganda campaign calling on the public to boycott foreign brands, including Nike, that have stated their concern about the issue of cotton in Xinjiang, but reports from Chinese media say, “Since the Xinjiang cotton incident, the Nike app, which is rumored to be taking down Nike products, has not yet acted, and some users were instead prompted by the news of its removal last Friday. Accelerated snapping up, resulting in a surge in Nike sneaker transactions on the platform, with an average of one transaction occurring every minute.”
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