Thread by @Noahpinion

1/Let's talk about the Uighurs, and why you should care about them, and why people in America do care about them (which are two very different things).

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

2/For the Trump administration, pretending to get upset about the Uighurs is simply a way to distract from their many huge domestic failures.

cnn.com/2020/06/19/pol…

3/In fact, China's repression of the Uighurs sounds like the kind of thing Trump would like to do, if he had the power or the competence to do it.

businessinsider.com/trump-china-de…

4/As for American liberals, the reason they care is simple: *That's what American liberals do.*

American liberals read stories about repression of minorities, and get upset about them. You might as well ask why a rabbit eats hay!

5/Now, simply getting upset about stories of repressed minorities is not a *bad* reason to care about the Uighurs. In fact, it's good! Caring about repressed minorities is good!

But in fact there are other reasons to care as well. Big ones.

6/The first additional reason to care is that the Uighur repression is part of a general worldwide shift toward government repression. That includes the U.S. of course, under Trump. It also includes India, the world's largest democracy.

hrw.org/report/2020/04…

7/Next, the Uighur repression is a sign that China's government, which was always authoritarian, is becoming more totalitarian.

That is scary.

japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/0…

8/With U.S. power and prestige in a state of collapse, China seems set to become the world's preeminent nation. And if it's a totalitarian one, that sets a bad example and a bad precedent for the entire world.

9/Next, not only will this new, more repressive China set a bad example and a bad precedent for the world, it has the power and the will to directly repress more and more people.

As Hong Kong is now learning.

thediplomat.com/2020/07/beijin…

10/If China conquers Taiwan, expect even more brutal repression, since Taiwan will resist with military force, not just protests. Chinese rule of Taiwan, in the age of Xi Jinping, would be a very brutal one.

The Uighur repression should prove that, beyond a doubt.

11/Next, the Uighur repression shows that China's government cares less and less about international opinion. That could indicate an increased willingness to bully neighboring countries and start conflicts with regional rivals like Japan and India.

nytimes.com/interactive/20…

12/But finally, the Uighur repression shows a preview of what the Chinese government might do to other segments of the Chinese populace.

Already there are stories of crackdowns on other minorities.

npr.org/2019/09/26/763…

13/Nor is the Han majority safe. Dissidents and government critics are being cracked down on as well.

theguardian.com/world/2020/feb…

14/Ultimately, the people most in danger from Xi Jinping's repression are Chinese people themselves. And there are 1.4 billion people in China -- 4 times as many people as in the United States!

What happens in China is pivotal to the welfare of the human race.

15/Right now there's really nothing the U.S. can do to stop the Uighur repression. We have little or no real leverage, and we've lost our moral authority.

BUT, we should continue to pay attention to it, and to draw attention to it, for all the reasons listed above.

16/When a country that represents 20% of humanity and 20% of the global economy and is increasingly militarily dominant in the world's most populated region is putting a minority in concentration camps, you should pay attention, and you should care. Period!

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