Uncle Sam punishes China for abusing Uyghur Muslims – by blacklisting top AI surveillance companies The US government has blacklisted 28 Chinese companies, including some of the world’s most valuable AI startups, for being complicit in China’s effort to brutally crack down on its Uyghur Muslim population. The majority of China’s Muslim population live in Xinjiang, a Northwestern region in between Kazakhstan and Mongolia. …
Given their failure to do anything about human rights abuses elsewhere in the world (*cough*Yemen) it's easy to end up with the impression that there are other things at work here.
Are there any US companies competing for the same services that the Chinese companies provide by any chance?
"Until all countries are held to account to the same standards, then actions like this are meaningless."
You're never going to get that level of fairness as it ignores years of diplomacy that it has taken to reach the current mess.
If you look at the Middle East for instance, how would the US/Europe treat the Middle Eastern countries fairly given their differing views towards Western countries?
Saudi Arabia is on the Allies list largely because Iran kicked out the Western-friendly Shah and isolated itself, intensifying the isolation through the war with Iraq and alliance with Russia in the proxy-Cold War between Iraq and Iran.
What you call hypocrisy, I would call pragmatic diplomacy because the alternative would be to get on a high horse and ride into the sunset unless I'm missing an obvious solution to the Sunni vs Shia conflicts (and even that oversimplifies the situation...). And if you have an answer to that, lets move on to Israel and the Kurds assuming Turkey hasn't wiped them out by the time you respond....
Your right...those bloody Iranians, fighting with Iraq.
And then cosying up with the Russians who were fighting the (soon to be called) taliban in Afghanistan.
Thank goodness the US never went to war with those, otherwise it may look a little suspect.
Next you'll be telling me that the US supported terrorists carrying out attacks against one of it's own allies
"Your right...those bloody Iranians, fighting with Iraq."
My point was that the countries the West has alliances with has been largely driven by a choice between the countries that haven't outright rejected the West and walking away completely.
The rest of your points go on to demonstrate just how complex Middle Eastern diplomacy is. I'm not saying the US actions are right or wrong (as there are examples of both) - I am saying that there is an argument for intervention/alliances with countries that do not meet international conventions for justice/human rights etc as the alternative is often worse.
This story coinciding with your report on the FBI's snooping.
The Chinese authorities have very good historical reasons for having a downer on what they perceive to be "fringe" Religions/Cults (See also attitude towards Fulan Gong).
Do a quick web search on the "Taiping Rebellion" It was actually one of the bloodiest conflicts in all of human history, It wasn't that long ago, and "Most" people will never have heard of it.
So we'll "protect" the Uyghur Muslim population via sanctions while tossing the Kurds to the wolves? Seems a bit inconsistent that one group of Muslims gets protection and the group which was actually fighting alongside the US is kicked off the boat.
Oh wait... It's about money not doing what's right. Nevermind.
There's a second reason in my opinion. It's close to money but it has more to do with civilized occidental countries horrified by the perspective to grant an equal status to a former third world country.
History shows it is hard to sit at the table with your former slaves.
I recommend reading about Opium Wars as a starting point.
Indeed, the link between Opium, Tea, Hong Kong and indeed what is today HSBC makes interesting reading. I have always felt that there is something Karmic about how many of the designer drugs and cheap fentanyl etc that is flooding western countries and causing so much misery are largely coming from China. :/
I see this effort as coming from right-wing Christians in the US. China is a favorite bogey because of its suppression of Christianity in various forms. It's not about human rights in general but freedom of religion in this specific context.
As we know, consistency in foreign policy is not a hallmark of this administration. It's a moment-to-moment thing, depending on which side of the bed 45 got out of this morning, and how "nice" foreign autocrats are to him, and how much money they will pump into his US and international businesses.
The picture shows the Muslims are openly practicing their religion and wearing their traditional clothes. I can confirm that is still the case today as I was just there for two weeks while traveling to China for 3 months. Xinjiang also happens to be an autonomous region where the Uyghur language holds official status. Best to go see for yourself if you're really interested in the truth.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
