Razor wire protects a cluster of schools on the outskirts of Kashgar

  Rounding up five to ten percent of an entire ethnic group, as the government has in Xinjiang, is a method that seems to belong in the last century, not this one.   But these heavy-handed measures have not simply rolled back the reforms and opening of past decades.  Beijing is widening the geographic scope of such measures, extending them from its Western border regions into areas that once seemed relatively free by comparison, and employing cutting-edge methods in service of old totalitarian ambitions.  What we are witnessing, in short, is not a continuation of China’s oppressive status quo but the onset of something alarming and new….the same calculus that has emboldened other authoritarian leaders, such as Saudi Arabia’s ruling family.  Add to this the chaotic state of politics in the United States and Europe, and it is clear why leaders in Beijing assume that they can do with impunity what their predecessors shied away from.    https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2018-10-30/chinas-bad-old-days-are-back

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http://lifestyle.morningdispatcher.com/story/china-distances-children-from-families-to-subdue-muslim-west/0196402/

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-Razor wire protects a cluster of schools on the outskirts of Kashgar, in western China's Xinjiang. Ng Han Guan / AP file

10-27-18    Another reason is Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s obsession with control.  Compared to his predecessors, Xi moved unusually fast to consolidate power.  He appointed himself head of numerous “small leading groups” in government.  He promoted loyal military officers.  He pursued a ruthless anti-corruption drive that conveniently toppled key rivals.    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/million-muslims-are-held-detention-camps-china-now-portrays-humane-n922041

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10-29-18  The revision by the Chinese authorities of the "Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Regulation on De-extremification" highlights the deteriorating human rights situation in Xinjiang.   

https://www.netherlandsandyou.nl/latest-news/news/2018/10/29/statement-by-the-spokesperson-of-the-eu-on-the-situation-in-xinjiang