I'm very disappointed with Steve Orlins of @NCUSCR for comments at the National Committee on US China Relations Town Hall this evening. Starting at 57:21 ncuscr.org First a minor point:
There was a debate with @GStephanopoulos about whether the word "concentration" is used in regard to the camps. The "education" CCP is enforcing on indigenous XJ people is called "concentrated" 集中--that's in the recent NYT released XJ papers
But the word also appeared in names of the camps, esp in Khotan region--again, in a string of modifiers, so it could apply to "educational transformation" as well as "center," but that's parsing. Here's a photo from NYT @ChuBailiang Chris Buckley: 
Main point is that they obviously are concentration camps--see my earlier historical thread, or read @andreapitzer 's book. Or call them re-education camps--it's the same difference, if you're locking innocents up on the basis of ethnicity, for an alleged "thought virus."!
More impt: Steve did not apparently read to the end of the NYT article. Yes, the Times writes that in 2014 speeches Xi Jinping said in effect don't over-react and demonize Islam. That was in fact a problem with the Times piece, because later in their story it's clear that
the over-reaction was severe, and driven from the very top. Thus local county level party bosses Wang Yongzhi and Gu Wensheng were purged, called corrupt and made an example of--monkeys killed to scare the chickens--b/c they didn't lock up enough Uyghurs, didn't 应收尽收
12,000 investigations of local XJ officials (many likely Han!) for not pursuing the concentration camp re-education policy zealously (it's in the NYT article, Steve). That was Beijing stomping on Xinjiang--Maoist stuff--to compel local party obeisance to crazy 中南海 policies
The key point of the NYT article is not that XJP is thoughtful and measured, as Steve said, and the problems due to local officials getting carried away! The story actually says the opposite:
that there is dissent or at least serious reservations about the XJ policies INSIDE the system, contra XJP.
What's so disappointing is Steve's seizing on one part of the NYT article to kiss up to XJP, while disingenuously mischaracterizing the overall horrifying message of the documents and article. The @relevantorgans were quick to make fun of Comrade Orlins for this and rightly so
I embrace the (past?) message of @NCUSCR to educate both sides and smooth the path of US-China interactions. Rash decoupling, demonizing China wholesale are bad options. But NCUSCR used to also call out Chinese authorities when they were doing stupid, counter-productive things
That's how @NCUSCR earned the support of academics, and countered the accusations that it is a shill for the corporations who fund it and to CCP which gives it access. I've participated in NCUSCR in the past, but
your remarks about Xinjiang tonight, Steve, make me question doing so in future. There is no excuse for what is happening in Xinjiang, Steve. Con-cen-tra-tion Camps. Say it. Denounce it. Don't excuse it.
But still worse, Steve, is that by excusing XJ repression, you are undermining the purpose of the @NCUSCR to which many of us, esp PIP fellows, are dedicated. You open us up to the charge of being rank apologists for XJP and the worst CCP abuses--and such critics are out there!
Read PIP fellow @CarlMinzner 's book, End of an Era. This is not your China of 20 or even 10 years ago. Wake up. A new approach is needed, you can't just soft-peddle the atrocities. Scylla and Charybdis are scarier and the US-China shoals more gnarly than ever.
