Clenched fist
There has been a plethora of news concerning China. These stories mainly deal mainly with two regions of China on its periphery, Xinjiang in the far west and Hong Kong.
These two regions are in the news as President Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attempts to tighten control over them. In Xinjiang, word has leaked to the wider world of re-education camps for its ethnic Uighur population, a Turkic Muslim population native to the region forcibly relocated to undergo re-education to make them loyal to China.
Hong Kong has seen massive protests against an extradition bill which would tighten mainland China’s hold on the city. Protesters fear this is a Trojan horse for the Communist Party to undermine the rule of law and the limited democratic institutions on the island since its return to mainland China’s control in 1997.
On reflection, I harken back to the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope. In one of the opening scenes, Princess Leia says to her captor, “The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
Today, President Xi should be cautious as he tries to tighten the power of the Communist Party and his personal power. The tighter he attempts to clench control of China, the more problems will arise.
In Xinjiang, China oversees the imprisonment of moderate Uighur leaders and regular citizens while those not imprisoned are being forced to hand in their passports and hand over biometric data which eases their tracking by the government.
Up to 1.5million Uighurs are being forcibly detained in “vocational training centers” characterized by barbed wire and watch towers. These camps have grown as more people are forcibly interned while only a trickle of detainees are being released.
This is reminiscent of one of China’s recent dark chapters of history, the Cultural Revolution. During the current era and the Cultural Revolution, individuals were forced to undertake self-criticism while enduring beatings and torture.
People are forced into such camps for quoting Quranic voices in text messages, attending mosques or having contact with foreigners from other Turkic countries or Muslim leaders while women can be interned for wearing head scarves. Furthermore, Islamic names are being discouraged along with long beards which are viewed as a sign of Islamic tendencies.
The Chinese government is probably adding fuel to whatever fire it hopes to extinguish. As China clamps down on Uighur culture, the Uighur population becomes more like the Islamic fundamentalists which plague the Middle East.
The same goes for Hong Kong. The more China attempts to crack down on the democratic traditions of Hong Kong, in violation of the “one country, two systems” agreement, the more it will create a backlash against its heavy-handed rule.
Regular protests against mainland China’s rule have erupted in Hong Kong each time Beijing attempts to tighten its control. As more mainland Chinese move to or visit Hong Kong, the bonds between the mainland and Hong Kong increase. Mainlanders will undoubtedly see and report on these successful protests back to cities on the mainland.
China may have the Great Firewall to control the internet but it hasn’t yet developed the surveillance capabilities and ability to filter out any news emanating from Hong Kong to the mainland via mainland citizens traveling and living within Hong Kong.
President Xi must ponder Russia’s past as he tries to lead China into the future. Heavy-handed Russian control over Ukraine resulted in a persistent independence streak which has manifested itself throughout the centuries in the form of rebellions, guerilla warfare and the current conflict.
The main focus of the CCP and Xi has been on domestic stability. As they tighten control in Xinjiang, in an effort to more tightly monitor and control the lives of its citizens whose loyalty they view as suspect, they will make these fears become realized. Likewise, the successful protests in Hong Kong will filter back to mainland China showing that the CCP can be forced to back down.
Instead of letting sleeping dogs lie with a laissez faire approach, Xi is creating the conditions for future domestic turmoil. Already, this heavy-handed approach is leading to prolonged turmoil. The initial cause of turmoil in Hong Kong, the extradition bill, has been repealed and withdrawn, but the cycle of protests and crackdowns has led to a number of new demands from protesters.
These increased demands are an investigation into police brutality, amnesty for those arrested during the protests and democratic reforms to allow for universal suffrage in Hong Kong. President Xi would be loath to give in to these demands for fear of looking weak, especially after having allowed for the withdrawal of the extradition law.
The situation now looks like an immovable object in the form of Xi against an unstoppable force in the form of the democratic aspirations of the protesters. Only time will show which one is supreme.