(Sorry in advance for the long post, I'm just frustrated)
My friend leans anarchist, but doesn't really read theory or history, he kinda just like punk music and reads/watches easily digestible leftist stuff online (twitter, tiktok, etc), and recently he's been on a kick of complaining about "tankies who apologize for and idolize authoritarian governments" as well as harping about how "tankies" don't believe the genocide in china is real. I tried to push back and say most people you'd label as tankies, including myself, probably just want to give a more fair and balanced view to leftist governments that exist/have existed, and credit their successes, rather than totally write them off, primarily based on capitalist propaganda. I also mentioned how the state department found no evidence of genocide in china, as well as the fact that most sources on it come from skewed studies and propaganda by right wing nuts like Adrian Zenz.
He referred me to this twitter thread that is supposedly proof of the Uyghur genocide by "non-western" and anti-capitalist sources. I'm bad at debunking stuff, so what do you all make of these articles? I'm just curious and skeptical of them, given that one, although an ML publication, is from India, who generally dislike China and look to discredit them, and others seem to base their arguments on dubious/non-specific Chinese government reports. Can anyone help? Also, how do I talk to my friend about learning to embrace the communist countries of the past and present that he thinks were/are failures, and show him that being an ML doesn't mean I'm like pro-genocide or anything.
https://twitter.com/RodericDay/status/1375566405542817793
Here's a thread just pointing at all the ways the links are in fact western propaganda.
Personally I am extremely tired of seeing the CPI(ML) link passed around cause none of the people who actually link it think MLs are anything but rabid tyrants in the making but once theres a tiny hint of being able to use one ML group against another they are suddenly the most credible people on earth.
It's like they truly believe the "They trust anything with a red flag" and therefore we must agree with the CPI cause red flag.
Anarchists (that don't read) projecting their illiteracy onto all MLs when one of the most important aspects of being an ML is that you never stop fucking reading.
I think it goes without saying that there are problematic aspects of the way China is handling separatism in Xinjiang. I also would be surprised to find out that there were highly problematic aspects of the politics of the separatists.
I think the question for your anarchist friend is should be ok, let’s assume China isn’t handling the situation perfectly, what praxis are you going to undertake in order to rectify this situation? If they can’t come up with anything that will be even remotely helpful to oppressed people in Xinjiang, which I can guarantee they won’t, maybe kindly suggest that they direct their attention to something that isn’t directly in line with imperialist foreign policy.
note: I posted this on your deleted version first
I don't know, I think Yugoslavia turned out great. NATO never ignites racial wars to further their neoliberal imperialists ends.
There is a good thread already posted debunking this, so I'll just mention a few things about the points in the article.
Marxist Leninist principles demand that we try to identify and address the material and political basis for militancy, rather than blaming it on “outside” forces or on “religious extremists.”
#1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKBTT827b84
Source Notice the date, a 2018 talk.
#2 FBI whistleblower admits US funded and helped execute terror attacks in Xingjiang from 96-02
#3
Moving forward, the biggest economic challenge for us will be China. However, it has an Achilles heel – the western province of Xinjian that is predominantly made up of Muslims. With help from Turkey, we have already created in Xinjian an Islamist movement that is calling for secession 23. China’s One Belt One Road is very dependent on freight trains safely traveling through that region on their way to Europe. Our future Mujahedeen in Xinjian will come in handy if China starts to misbehave. Source#1 Source#2
I hope this small sample can help identify at least part of the "political" basis for this militancy. What if I told you the so called "separatist" movement has no material basis at all?
The rest of it is just a garbage dumpster fire, a large amount of liberal virtue signaling i.e China is thought police because maybe we should curb anti-revolutionary/conservative/extremist thought somehow I wonder how, ah yes how about schools!
For a supposed Marxist to be so butthurt about "thought police" I was almost waiting for the author to argue "I disagree with your right wing fascist ideology, but I'll fight to the death protect for your right to express it", indeed the western tone to the article becomes clearer, I very much doubt this is the discourse you'll find used by the oppressed workers in the third world. Thought police nonsense is decidedly a western liberal concern.
The section on Islamophobia and double standard is just begging the question if the Muslim community itself doesn't have the legitimacy to support policies about themselves then what exactly are you arguing for other then everyone will do what they think is best and you have no moral ground to stand on regardless.
However much weight you put on countries like Saudi Arabia to have any meaningful discourse on the subject, this line of thought just goes down the road of the ironic western chauvinistic "the Muslims are all primitive/racists/extremists anyway so their opinions are invalid on any subject".
If China can't count on the support of any Muslim nation then China should do what the people and the party think is best. The end, otherwise look at that article and what it says:
China is wrong and the Muslims are also wrong, who is right? Me of course a random unsuccessful supposed """""ML""""" party. That my point of view perfectly and timely aligns with western imperialist goals is just a happy little accident I guess.
Someone pls help me defend my preconception about what the Chinese are doing to Uyghurs thx.
I'm prettty glad they posted. I've read everything I could get my hands on about Xinjiang and still learned something.
essential reading it's even got some 👁️
https://twitter.com/RodericDay/status/1375566405542817793
He also wrote maybe the most concise longer thing on Xinjiang I've seen
https://redsails.org/the-xinjiang-atrocity-propaganda-blitz/
"The real Xinjiang story is not so difficult to understand:
The rise of Xi Jinping and the Belt & Road Initiative posed a serious challenge to American supremacy much earlier than they were expecting, so [41] the US amped up their funding of terrorism in the region, as per the “Afghan Trap” doctrine outlined by Brzezinski, but [42] instead of sending in the PLA, repeating the error of the Soviets, China reacted by building schools and vocational programs instead. [43] As a result, the US and its allies desperately pivoted to accusing them of “genocide,” despite lack of evidence. [44]I’ve yet to see any evidence whatsoever challenging this basic understanding."
One of the most interesting piece of evidence is China's involvement with Erik Prince, the PMC guy. What in god's name would they be doing with him.
