Yesterday I gave a speech on Independence. I said that nations with minorities should grant those minorities independence, if that's what the minorities want. Examples are Tibet and Taiwan. To my shame, I forgot another minority that wants it (at least by some accounts they do), namely the Uighurs. Incidentally, the Uighurs are a Chinese minority, too.
Now there have been demonstrations ending in fights between Uighurs and the police. Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, blames all on the demonstrators, of course. Can that news agency be trusted on anything remotely related to this sort of incident? Of course not. For one thing, "[Xinhua] says three people were killed and more than 20 injured (...)". Other sources says over 140 dead (LA Times, BBC News (video)). (I do realize the numbers could be an artifact of when those reports were made.)
The Uighurs are a Muslim minority of 8 million people in north-west China, an area which, unfortunately, is rich in oil. Therefore China will not grant them independence. There could be other reasons, such as that the Chinese government just cannot stand losing face (correct me if I'm wrong, but that is supposed to be a fairly well-known Chinese trait in general?).
Let those people go!, if that's what they want.
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I dunno, I think the Chinese government might happily give the Uighurs independence....provided they left, taking nothing of value with them, and just incidentally leaving that all that oil-rich real estate open for resettlement by people of the government's choice.
ReplyDeletecicely
Sure, perhaps we could resettle them in, say, the Middle East somewhere...
ReplyDelete...because that strategy has worked so well in the past....
ReplyDeletecicely
Because it's true, I'm quite fond of saying that frequently the best way to aid or even improve a thing is to leave it alone. "Forced resettlement" has nothing at all to do with "independence" ... something to which, at the least, Native Americans can attest.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's true, I'm quite fond of saying that frequently the best way to aid or even improve a thing is to leave it alone.
ReplyDeleteOoh, that's a very evolutionary way of thinking. I wonder if you could sell that to the Chinese government. (Okay, honestly, I don't wonder that.)