Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Turkey faces off with China Over treatment of the Uighur ethnic minority How will this showdown go down? This is China Uncensored. I'm Chris Chappell. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest China news, and click the notification bell so you get an alert each time we publish a new episode. The Uighurs. They're the dominant ethnic minority in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of China. That's its official name because it's totally autonomous. You know, other than the massive state security apparatus the Chinese Communist Party has installed in Xinjiang. “The security here is incredibly tight. There are armored cars on the streets. Police stations on every corner. And tons of surveillance cameras. In the past year, police have stepped up security. The region is now under probably the most intense government surveillance in the world.” Not to mention the government workers literally being sent into people's homes to spy on them. I mean who doesn't like being watched 24/7 with the threat of detention hanging over your head at all times? I can't imagine why any Uighurs would want independence from China. For years, the Chinese Communist Party has targeted the Uighurs. They're a mostly Turkic Muslim group, so the Party justifies it as a crackdown on terrorists. And it is true some Uighurs from Xinjiang have joined terrorist groups like ISIS. But authorities have detained more than a million Uighurs in concentration camps. So that makes you wonder, do Chinese authorities think all Uighurs are terrorists? Well, that would be taking it too far. Chinese authorities clearly don't think all Uighurs are terrorists. For instance, Uighur women make great wife material. ...since you know, there's about 30 million more men than women in China. It's because of the extremely well-thought-out One Child Policy that resulted in the abortions of tens of millions of unborn girls. Now, many Western countries have spoken out against the persecution of Uighurs. Including the Trump Administration. Because when you think 'defending Muslims,' you think Donald Trump. And Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said just last week that she spoke with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about doing more to help the Uighurs. More proof of how the Chinese Communist Party is bringing Democrats and Republicans together. It's heartwarming, really. But in the upside down world we live in, Muslim countries by and large have remained silent about the Chinese regime's treatment of Muslims. Does that have anything to do with the billions of dollars China is investing in these countries? I'm not saying it's about money. But I'm not *not* saying it's not not about money. Think about *that.* But the Muslim world's silence on the Chinese regime's persecution of Muslims has started to change. And it has started with one of the most unlikely countries: Turkey. Because when you think 'standing up to authoritarian persecution,' you think Turkish dictator President Erdoğan. Turkey has become the first predominantly Muslim country to directly criticize the Chinese regime on the issue. This statement is a from the Turkish Foreign Ministry. It specifically calls out the “serious human rights violations committed in the Xinjiang region.” The statement was made despite a recent 3.6 billion dollar loan from a Chinese state-owned bank. The statement also grieved the death of a famous Uighur musician and poet, Abdurehim Heyit. He's been detained in China since 2017. Heyit is incredibly popular in the Turkic world for his art. So, what was the Chinese regime's response? The report of his death was greatly exaggerated. China released this video, supposedly of Heyit saying, “Hey I'm fine!” “My name is Abdurehim Heyit. Today is February 10, 2019. I'm in the process of being investigated for allegedly violating the national laws. I'm now in good health and have never been abused.” Ohhh, well that was a bit of a snafu. The Chinese Foreign Ministry was quick to gloat. “Turkey's ridiculous lie of describing a person who is alive as a dead person and its groundless accusations are terribly wrong and irresponsible. We express resolute opposition to this.” Yeah, how dare Turkey call someone dead when that person is obviously alive but held incommunicado with his whereabouts unknown! Although, if a government has to release a “proof of life” video to prove that they haven't killed someone, that's not a good look. It's more of a kidnapper look. But let's go back to why Turkey messed up! Because obviously if that specific fact was wrong, then entire argument that China is persecuting Uighurs must be false too! At least according to this statement from the Chinese embassy in Turkey. “The allegations that the Chinese government is trying to 'eliminate' the ethnic, religious and cultural identity of the Uighurs and other Muslim groups are completely untenable.” So please, stop looking into any alleged stories of torture. Like this one. But it was a short-lived victory for the Chinese regime. Because you know what the response from Uighurs around the world has been? Well, if the Chinese authorities are willing to release a video of one Uighur as proof he was alive, why not release one for every Uighur in detention? They started the #MeTooUyghur movement, demanding video proof that their detained friends and relatives are alive. A Uighur Me Too Movement. Look, you know, not all Chinese people imprison Uighurs. In fact, some Uighurs even fake it! Some Uighurs just accidentally fell down the stairs... into concentration camps, while in the process, dropping their children...into... far-away Chinese boarding schools where they're forbidden to speak their native language. Look, what I'm trying to say is, stairs are dangerous and stop asking questions. So what does this mean for Turkey's relationship with China? Turkey hasn't officially responded since China released the video they say is Heyit. But according to the Mercator Institute for China Studies, Turkey is too important for China as an access point to the Middle East. So the long-term blowback will probably be small. And before we go, now is the time when I answer questions from you, my loyal 50-cent army— fans of the show who support what we do through the crowd funding website Patreon. David Michael White asks, “Chris, in your opinion, what's the greatest love story in Chinese literature?” Oh well, I'm sure the right answer is probably the characters from Dream of Red Chamber, one of the four classics of Chinese literature. It involves two star-crossed lovers bound together by a tragic karmic relationship. And let me just say, what I just said makes it sound way more interesting that it actually is. Now I know I'm going to get some blowback for this, because Dream of Red Chamber is beloved by Chinese people everywhere, but it must lose something in translation because seriously,