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(BEIJING) – China on Tuesday described its mass internment of Muslims as an incentive to introduce into the "modern and civilized" world an easily misplaced poor people – a description that analysts say bore a troubling colonial cloud.
This is the latest attempt by the ruling Communist Party to defend its out-of-court detention of Muslim minorities in central Asia against growing criticism.
China's resistance to Western pressure on the camps testifies to the growing confidence it has placed under President Xi Jinping, who has proposed the authoritarian Beijing system as a model for other countries.
About one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other minorities have been arbitrarily arrested in massive internment camps in the Xinjiang region of western China, according to an American panel. Former detainees claim to have been forced to disavow their Islamic beliefs in the camps, while the children of the detainees would be placed in dozens of orphanages in the area.
The official Xinhua News Agency report states that the party's vision in Xinjiang is based on the assimilation of indigenous ethnic minorities from Central Asia into Han Chinese society and, in turn, into a "modern" lifestyle. .
Xinjiang Governor Shohrat Zakir said the authorities were providing lessons in Mandarin, history and Chinese laws. Such training would remove them from extremism and lead them to a "modern life" in which they would feel "confident for the future," he said.
"It has become a general trend for them to hope and lead a modern and civilized life," said Zakir, referring to trainees. He said these measures were part of a broader policy to lay the foundation for "a comprehensive solution to deep-seated issues" in the region.
China has long regarded the country's ethnic minorities as backward countries, said James Leibold, an expert in Chinese ethnic politics at Melbourne's La Trobe University.
Leibold described Beijing's vision of minorities as follows: "They are superstitious, deviant, potentially dangerous. The role of the party-state is to bring them to the light of civilization, to transform them. "
Despite the growing concerns of the United States and the United Nations, China has said that the extensive police surveillance of Xinjiang is necessary to fight latent extremism and preserve stability.
Turkish-speaking Uighurs have long misperceived restrictions on their religious practices. They say they have been victims of widespread discrimination in their work and have access to a passport.
In the Xinhua report, Zakir said the authorities offered free professional training in skills for the manufacturing, catering and services sectors. Zakir stated that "trainees" received a basic income during training, in which food and lodging are provided free of charge.
The report aimed to challenge stories provided by former detainees, who claimed to have been detained in political indoctrination camps where they were forced to denounce Islam and profess their party loyalty. .
Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs told the Associated Press that seemingly innocuous acts, such as praying regularly, visiting a foreign website or taking phone calls from relatives abroad, could land one in a camp.
Read more: What you need to know about China's crackdown on a minority Muslim group
Zakir said the training centers were for people "influenced by terrorism and extremism and those suspected of minor criminal offenses" who could be exempted from criminal sanctions.
Zakir did not specify whether these people were formally charged with a crime or offered the opportunity to defend themselves against the allegations. The report also did not specify whether attendance was mandatory, although former detainees claimed to have been forcibly detained in centers monitored by armed guards.
Maya Wang, a senior Human Rights Watch researcher for China, said the system deprives detainees of basic legal protections such as access to a lawyer.
The authorities' attempts to justify the camps "illustrate what" the rule of law "means in China – that the party bends it to its will and uses it as a weapon against alleged political enemies," Wang said in a statement. email.
Zakir did not specify how many people attended these courses, but said that some would be able to finish their classes this year.
Zakir appeared to be trying to counter reports of poor living conditions in the camps, saying the "trainees" were immersed in sports and cultural activities. The cafeterias of the centers offer "free nutritious diets" and the dormitories are fully equipped with a TV, air conditioning and showers, he said.
Omir Bekali, a Kazakh citizen born in Xinjiang, said that he had been placed in a cell of 40 people inside a highly guarded facility.
Bekali said he was being held in a locked room with eight other internees. They shared miserable beds and toilets. Baths were rare.
Before meals, they were told to sing "Thank the party! Thank the country! During compulsory daily classes, they were told that their people were backlogged before being "liberated" by the party in the 1950s.
The idea that beliefs can be transformed by indoctrination goes back to the Mao Zedong era, when self-criticism and public humiliation were commonly used to elicit ideological fervor.
The philosophies of the program date back to the end of the imperial era, when the "natives" of Xinjiang were considered to require Confucian education, according to Michael Clarke, Xinjiang expert at the Australian National University.
Amnesty International has described the Xinhua report as insulting detainees and families of missing persons during the crackdown.
"No attempt on the part of the government hides the fact that the Chinese authorities are carrying out a systematic crackdown," said the human rights group.
