For the past 5 years, we’ve been consistently told by western media that China has been committing genocide against the Uyghur population, a Muslim ethnic minority who lives in China’s far western province of Xinjiang.
This message has been told so many times by Western media that it’s now widely accepted, without question, as the undeniable truth.
But a new report was recently published from two of the most well-respected Sinologists that completely shatters the entire mainstream narrative.
After considerable research, including a private investigation on the ground in Xinjiang, the two professors' findings directly contradict many of the central allegations upon which this entire narrative is based.
So who exactly are these two scholars and can they be trusted? Are they independent and reliable, or simply propagandists paid by the Chinese government as many instantly claimed.
In today’s newsletter, I'm going to reveal the shocking truth about Xinjiang that has been kept completely hidden by the mainstream media, and I'll show you that there's far more going on in this province than you've been led to believe.
Let’s start today’s analysis by looking at the newspaper who published this groundbreaking report. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) is a Swiss newspaper and one of the most highly respected in the German-speaking world.
The article opens with a clear and candid criticism of China's policies in Xinjiang, with the authors asserting Beijing enacted "undoubtedly excessive and repressive measures" in the region. However, they also reveal the background and history leading up to these measures which western media never talks about:
"Between 2010 and 2016, the region suffered from widespread Islamic terror and was tyrannized by a whopping 12 separatist-Islamic movements, under which hundreds of innocent Han-Chinese and also Uyghurs were ruthlessly murdered, and thousands seriously injured, and under which the rest of the local population, including the Uyghurs, suffered immensely”
It should be noted that Xinjiang first started experiencing brutal terrorist attacks as far back as 1992. It’s also important to note these attacks were not random but part of a targeted terrorism campaign with a clear objective:
"in 2016 Uyghur extremists declared in an ISIS video that they planned to 'drown all Han Chinese in a sea of blood'...and began recruiting young Uyghurs as fighters in southern Xinjiang".
Furthermore, this reign of terror even "nearly led to the complete loss of control of the region by the central Chinese government". Naturally, this crucial piece of the story is never disclosed in western media. In response, the Chinese government "declared a state of emergency, moved military units to the region, and established a strict discipline regime" with the goal of stamping out terrorism once and for all.
Criticizing this harsh intervention is perfectly acceptable, but you have to recognize the actions from China’s government are far better than better than how the US government deals with Islamic terrorists, which frankly is bombing them and everyone around them.
Ultimately, this key piece of the story undoubtedly adds important context and reveals a much fuller picture of the situation in Xinjiang, especially compared to the version western media would have us believe, which is that the Chinese government simply suddenly imposed a reign of oppression over the region without any basis or provocation.
At this point it's crucial to acknowledge some important facts about China's relationship with Islam which might shock you. Western media regularly alleges China has effectively banned religion and is on a mission to eradicate Islam within its borders, but the reality on the ground is very different.
Second, according to American Pew Research Center based in DC, today there are nearly 40,000 mosques in China, the majority of which are in Xinjiang, with an international consensus that there's about 18 million Muslim adults in China.
Furthermore, most folks in the west will be stunned by this, but most Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East support and have even signed official letters publicly praising China's "counter-terrorism and deradicalization measures in Xinjiang". This list includes major Islamic countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Syria, and Pakistan.
However, the next part of their report will truly astonish you: The professors found "clear signs that the [tense situation in Xinjiang] is returning back to normal" and that "the modernizations initiated by the central government have even received noticeable sympathy from the Uyghur population". Sound absurd? Let's take a closer look.
During their independent visit to the province and private investigation with two other German China scholars and an international lawyer, they found "police street checkpoints were clearly no longer in use", and that even "the various camps established during the peak of the fight against terror have now largely been dissolved".
If this sounds too good to be true, then understand that even Adrian Zenz, a well-known China hawk who first published the groundbreaking study claiming China is committing a genocide was recently forced to come to the same conclusion! Going back to the modernization efforts, the two professors found that the "central government had begun modernizations in education, medical care, and employment".
This includes
"the introduction of 15 years of free education for young Uyghur men and women, including Kindergarten, school, and vocational training". In addition, "state-subsidized healthcare has been implemented, initially in the southern part of Xinjiang, in addition to free education with students receive 200 Yuan/month to support their parents".
As if this wasn't enough, the Chinese central government has"sponsored the establishment of company branches in Xinjiang in the agricultural and industrial sectors, which are required to employ almost exclusively Uyghurs at nationally valid minimum wage standards, and which is aimed at resolving the relatively high local unemployment."
The two China scholars also disclosed that they:
"could not determine a general discrimination against the Uyghur language and culture, but that in Xinjiang, as in all ethnic minority areas...Mandarin has been established as the main language of instruction in schools starting from the secondary level, while the local Uyghur language is still always offered as a subject in all schools."
When the majority of the world realized that China was in fact not committing genocide against the Uyghur people, Western media had to change their narrative. They shifted their assessment to a “cultural genocide” and claimed the use of the Mandarin language in schools as proof the Chinese government is trying to eradicate the local Uyghur’s language and culture.
To help make this stick, western media unsurprisingly omitted the fact that the local Uyghur language, far from being eradicated, is still always offered as a subject in schools. However, the real irony here is that establishing a common national language across one's country is actually a completely normal thing to do that virtually every nation on Earth does, including all western nations.
All of these findings from this report have in fact all been part of the central government's long-term plan for Xinjiang: After the height of the terror in 2016, the subsequent "period between 2017 and 2020 corresponded [merely] to a transitional phase in which Beijing declared the aforementioned state of emergency to fight terrorism".
"Since the new party secretary Ma Xingrui has been in office since 2021, the central mission has radically shifted to returning to normalcy as quickly as possible".
This long-term planning is a key point I've mentioned in previous videos and is absolutely crucial in understanding how China's government operates: Its actions and policies are virtually always part of a bigger, long-term plan which may not always be readily comprehensible or even apparent at first.
This is a key difference to western democracies, where it's difficult to enact long term plans because politicians must always focus on their upcoming election, and thus they're incentivized to make short-term populist promises which they typically have trouble keeping. Needless to say, western media often either knowingly or unknowingly ignores this key difference, as it frequently condemns China's actions before understanding the full plan or the endgame.
Overall, this report will likely baffle those who only read western media. And sadly, many folks in the west will find this report hard to believe at best, and more likely instantly dismiss it as CCP propaganda. Therefore, the all-important question here is who exactly are these two German professors, and why should we believe anything they say?
Firstly, if you think they've been bought by the Chinese government to shill for China think again. As I demonstrated earlier, Professor Heberer and Schmidt-Glintzer do not at all shy away from criticizing Beijing nor do they mince words in their report. Very striking is also that they cite Adrian Zenz in their report.
Zenz has produced highly questionable "research" on Xinjiang that has not withstood basic scrutiny, which of course hasn't prevented western media from frequently citing it as established fact. The professors cite him merely to indicate that even he has admitted the camps have now largely been dissolved.
In the process, they even refer to him as a "Xinjiang expert”. Frankly, if these professors are working for the Chinese government, then they're doing a terrible job.
It's also important to reiterate that Professor Heberer and Schmidt-Glintzer have been studying and visiting China for over 50 years, long before the country became so political and negatively portrayed in the west. If you study their works published throughout their lives, you won't find a sudden shift to only positive sentiment that would suggest they've been bought off or their academic integrity has been compromised. Instantly dismissing them as China propagandists just because they don't parrot the mainstream narrative is simply irrational and intellectually lazy.
In conclusion, this stunning report from two of the most distinguished China scholars is simply another reminder that it's imperative we take western mainstream media's assertions about China with a massive grain of salt.
Xinjiang is a complex issue which requires a deep understanding of China as well as rigorous and nuanced analysis that's free from agendas and ideological biases.
The report from these two German scholars concludes with the following important message:
Xinjiang has always and still is a vital part of the silk road. If the situation in the province continues to normalize, the EU should initiate dialogue and reconsider the sanctions it has imposed on China.
This is a welcome conclusion, and something I’ve always consistently advocated for. We live in a global economy, and if the west can find ways to work with China instead of decoupling or de-risking from it, the west, and indeed the entire world, will benefit tremendously and there will be no challenge we can't solve together.
For a video presentation of today’s newsletter please watch my video on YouTube:
The Western approach to ethnic issues is completely different from that of China, and this may be a significant reason for criticizing China. The Chinese saying goes, "judge others by oneself." In Western history, colonization involved true occupation and extermination of indigenous peoples in colonies. On the other hand, in regions like Europe and the Middle East, there was also a push for national self-determination, leading to ongoing ethnic conflicts. China's approach to Xinjiang and other minority regions does not involve Western-style colonization, let alone ethnic genocide. China's main focus is on respecting historical evolution and promoting ethnic integration. This is something that Europeans and Americans may not understand and therefore find hard to believe. However, in reality, this is how China operates. The Han ethnic group is not an aggressive one.
Great newsletter, Cyrus! :)