The destruction of the Uighur vs the destruction of the Rohingya is a lesson in the power of closed states. There are probably around a million Uighur in concentration camps right now. Young Uighur men have been almost entirely vanished from Urumqi.
We barely know what's happening there. At the very least, mass population movement and deliberate cultural destruction. But we have almost no access, we don't know the level of violence being used, and the Chinese media cannot speak on it at all.
Something has also clearly changed in the last six month - the process has been massively expanded and sped up. What is it moving toward? What is the end goal here? Is there any way to step back from these measures, or are we talking a permanent carceral archipelago?
When will Uighur men begin to be released from the camps? And will all of them be released alive? Where will a population that sits on the main route of the Belt and Road - Xi's signature initiative - and that is seen as fundamentally dangerous be relocated to?
Meanwhile, the Muslim world says not a peep about this. The Qu'ran is desecrated, Islamic education is banned, security algorithms read even routine worship as a sign of radicalization, and Xi's face is put before the direction of Mecca. And not a word.
Where are the men who claim to be the defenders of fellow Muslims? Where are the leaders of Pakistan, Iran, and Turkey? Reaching out their hands for Beijing's money.
