It is indeed the case
that China is hardly Norway when it comes to the issue of religious and
political tolerance. This includes the 11 million ethnic Yugur minority
in the northwest province of Xinjiang. China's lack of pluralism
notwithstanding, here is the problem of credibility with any Western
politician using the Xinjiang minority population issue, especially an
American politician carrying the legacy of a racist institutional
structure.
1. As of November 2020, the last 10 poverty-stricken
counties of Xinjiang had all completely eradicated absolute poverty. By
contrast, US poverty rate rose across the US from 10.5% in 2019 to 11.5%
in 2023, and the poverty rate among AMERICAN MINORITIES averages 6
points higher than the general population.
2. The largest
Western multinational corporations, mostly US-based, operate in Xinjiang
province because of cheap labor and proximity to markets. While the
hypocritical political rhetoric about Chinese repressed minorities makes
Western headlines, a closer look reveals that the Western capitalist
class makes huge profits exploiting those minorities. Whereas China has a
social development policy intended to benefit the working class across
the country, including Xinjiang, social development policy in the US has
been eroding since the Reagan era.
3. The UN, and the ICJ have
clearly made their positions known about Israel's genocidal war. By
contrast, there has been no international court ruling on the Xinjiang
province minority. The only country in the world trying to build such a
case has been the US, but the evidence is lacking and the multinational
corporations operating there are uneasy about having their operations
exposed to the world.
Blinken is visiting China knowing that
he is going to hear complaints about American destabilization of the
Middle East, Eastern Europe-Eurasia, and South China Sea. Having no
defense for America's FOREVER WAR policy, and lacking in diplomatic
training and any sort of foreign affairs depth, he decided to follow the
cheap rightwing American neocon road of propaganda regarding the Muslim
minority in Xinjiang province, a fruitless strategy against the
background of genocide and forced famine which the US has made possible
in Gaza.
More than two years of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and no global popular opposition, despite governments welcoming such protests and media constantly propagating against Russia. After all, much of the world was heavily indoctrinated to vilify Russia since the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), while Israel has enjoyed a rather favorable treatment since 1948, especially by the Western World.
One reason could be that the Russia-Ukraine war is a conventional conflict with US-led NATO behind Ukraine and Russia on the other. Another reason could be that the war in Ukraine is about the regional balance of power, and by extension a continuation of the old Cold War EAST-WEST rivalry. The rivals have been trying to settle zones of influence between NATO and Russia which NATO wants contained militarily and regimented, given that China is behind Russia.
Another reason could be that Russia has not targeted children and civilians, despite some civilian casualties including children. After a tw-year conventional war, it is estimated that 10,582 civilians killed, including 587 children. The majority have been killed by explosive weapons with wide area effects, and by mines and explosive remnants.
By contrast, Israel’s war between a conventional military and civilians in GAZA. In just six months, more than 42,000 civilians have been killed, with more than 14,000 children, while all of GAZA is demolished and waiting for reconstruction for which Israel fully expects the West and Arab nations to pay although it has also stated the region will be settled by Israelis.
The ICJ has rendered a decision on Israeli genocide. No such decision has been handed down against Russia, despite efforts by the US and the West. While the overwhelming majority of governments in the world are on Russia’s side, the opposite holds true for Israel. While there have been no mass college student-faculty protests against Russia, or any other popular protests, the same is not true for Israel.
One could argue that the Western World is antisemitic and pro-Russian, except that public opinion polls do not support such a hypothesis, especially when considering that Jewish organizations and individuals have joined mass protests against Western-backed Israeli genocide. Could one reason for the anti-Zionist protests possibly be that the protesters identify Zionism with Western militarism and fault it as much for is taking place in Ukraine as in ISRAEL? Or, do the anti-war protesters express societal desire for peace and diplomatic solutions? Perhaps another reason could be that the mass protesters see on the part of Israel the glaring absence of observance of international law, human rights, and social justice, while they do not see the same for Russia which is hardly a favorite country for the West.