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Communist China's Policy of Oppression in East Turkestan

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230<br />

importance <strong>in</strong> summ<strong>in</strong>g up the party's policy.<br />

One article <strong>in</strong> the New York Times described the Ch<strong>in</strong>ese idea <strong>of</strong><br />

democracy <strong>in</strong> these terms:<br />

The M<strong>in</strong>istry <strong>of</strong> Justice admits to hold<strong>in</strong>g more than 2,000 "counter-revolutionary"<br />

political prisoners, a number that has decl<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>in</strong> recent years.<br />

But countless thousands <strong>of</strong> other political and religious prisoners <strong>of</strong> conscience<br />

are <strong>in</strong> labor camps and mental <strong>in</strong>stitutions. In a heavily policed society,<br />

little has changed s<strong>in</strong>ce 1979, when young <strong>in</strong>tellectuals like Wei<br />

J<strong>in</strong>gsheng and Xu Wenli pasted up on Democracy Wall their calls for reform...<br />

Wei went to prison, where he rema<strong>in</strong>s today, and Xu is a political<br />

hermit. 76<br />

As we have seen, although the Ch<strong>in</strong>ese government claims that<br />

everyone is free to express his thoughts, Ch<strong>in</strong>ese citizens are not permitted<br />

to criticize the regime or senior party <strong>of</strong>ficials and their actions,<br />

nor are they allowed to publish such criticism. The party strictly monitors<br />

all views that conflict with its own. People are punished on the<br />

grounds <strong>of</strong> state security if they issue the slightest criticism. Those who<br />

do are deta<strong>in</strong>ed, and can be kept for months without be<strong>in</strong>g taken to<br />

court and without their relatives be<strong>in</strong>g notified <strong>of</strong> their whereabouts.<br />

THE TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE<br />

On June 4, 1989, the world once aga<strong>in</strong> witnessed the brutality <strong>of</strong><br />

communist Ch<strong>in</strong>a. University students <strong>in</strong> Tiananmen Square demand<strong>in</strong>g<br />

greater democracy and freedom found themselves opposed by their<br />

own country's army. The Ch<strong>in</strong>ese government paid no attention to the<br />

fact that the protestors were their own citizens, only 19 or 20 years old.<br />

In the view <strong>of</strong> communist Ch<strong>in</strong>a, the important factor was the existence<br />

<strong>of</strong> a potential threat to the state, and the Politbureau decided that the<br />

university students did <strong>in</strong> fact represent a threat. That decision led to<br />

<strong>Communist</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a’s <strong>Policy</strong><br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>Oppression</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>East</strong> <strong>Turkestan</strong>

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