China's problems with the Uyghurs (Documentary from 2014 in HD)

Video Statistics and Information

Video

Captions Word Cloud

Captions

[Music] shinjang is this Chinese province in the far west of the country it's the regime's main headache because just like Tibet it's on the verge of implosion now annex this region 50 years ago the weak or Muslims of Turkish origin are in the majority and don't feel Chinese today they number 8 million Beijing has granted them fake autonomy officially a week or governs the province but he remains under the regime's orders over the last two years anti Chinese attacks have increased leaving dozens of people dead and hundreds wounded the Uighur want their independence in response Beijing has deployed its Armed Forces and sent in millions of Chinese settlers they get the best land and the best jobs keeping hold of xinjiang is almost essential for China this region is the largest in the country it holds a strategic position opening the way to Central Asia and Europe but more than that it's subsoil is overflowing with riches it's here that the country's largest reserves of oil gas and coal are to be found billions of euros are at stake that's why shinjang is the most militarized province in China it's estimated that one in three Chinese here work for the security forces a reality that must be hidden from the eyes of the world the regime is also playing the National Tourism card here we are in a room chi it's hard to get into Shin Jang Western journalists aren't welcome after months of fruitless efforts it under a false identity that we finally join the official convoy of a Chinese tour operator [Music] it's a unique opportunity to experience the communication strategy developed by Beijing to prove that all is well beneath the skies of Xinjiang [Music] as far as the authorities are concerned we're keeping a blog after negotiation we're given permission to film whatever we like thanks to this official convoy we'll be able to explore the whole province we shall be fed PR by the Chinese regime and learn a fine lesson in propaganda [Music] [Music] has on any good organized tour we're entitled to a guide yeah ginger weaker optimist region so that wagger is talking about Who I am I am Weger so one of the main ethnic group and only because of the weaker people in China mostly located in Xinjiang and that's why we have our a special territory with a special political system and special living area and also all these special costumes of history everything different after 2009 whenever it happened in the routine boys of all these record in the world let most of the people in the world know about us every bad thing or a good thing have both sides always bring either bad or good at the same time so this is also your opportunity to find out shinjang is a vast territory three times the size of France we've hours and hours of driving ahead of us [Music] but hardly have we left the regional capital than the convoy stops in the middle of the desert bizarrely the coach drivers start to hide the license plates of their vehicles it seems we're the only ones to be surprised we can drive fastly so because and underway to put this case there are so many limited speeds and rutan determinate cameras so we just avoid the cameras we can drive faster on the road it is indeed much more practical no need to stop at the tolls or even to pay our convoy is too important for that we're also entitled to a police escort down the private ambulance and so it's hardly surprising to be saluted by a policeman in the middle of nowhere [Music] and when the travelers asked to stop for a pee break it's quite natural that the traffic is halted in both directions [Music] every whim is indulged the members of this trip are super VIPs they have to be convinced that shinjang is safe and that Chinese tourists can return here Beijing wants to recoup its investments in the region over the last five years more than a billion euros have been injected into the local tourism infrastructures [Music] [Music] they just need to ensure that the Uighur have finally accepted their status as a folk attraction not everything is quite up to the mark the weaker dancers joy lacks a little spontaneity according to the itinerary everyone was meant to dance together to get a taste of week or culture but time is running out the guides are anxious it's time to leave and move on to the next activity another even more grandiose spectacle awaits us the Ministry of Tourism has spared no expense on stage group follows group at a frantic pace performing their finest dances to general indifference [Music] the travelers are only interested in one thing eating and drinking although they're on Muslim soil the alcohol flows freely respect for local traditions doesn't concern them in this shinjang folklore iced by Beijing the balance of power has clearly shifted towards the Chinese the Uighur have to put on a good show in front of their new masters how much longer will they tolerate it over ten years the Chinese have shaped the region in their own image new cities have risen up from the ground there's nothing local about the architecture here it's not surprising these buildings were made to house Chinese settlers they all work for a paramilitary organization it's called the bing Tuan and it controls the whole region it's unique in China the army is authorized to do business mainly in agriculture in Xinjiang one out of three Chinese belong to this binged one that's nearly three million people Beijing couldn't have found anything better than these farmer soldiers to monitor the weak or uncertain 1930 the real liberation started thousands of thousands of Army soldiers came to Shin Jung all the cities everywhere and helping to get rid of all of those problems and we have such of them as one country and one policy one law so what we gonna do with all these soldiers the same project starts it again why don't you drop your weapon become what we did before you checked our homeland near the border so all of those army soldiers start to change it into farmers but they have a second order any time country needs you you have to take a weapon and drop your farming stools become army soldier again we had huge groups of being twins the army soldiers and what they grow is cotton and they sell the textiles the cuts in the fabrics to Gucci Elway Prada Chanel I'm sure you know these products but you probably don't know the material where it's from it's from Shin Jung decided thrill exactly tomorrow we land in axel in Kashgar but the soldiers don't just act as farmers on occasion they also become perfect tour guides [Music] the army has thought of everything it's even provided some of its trucks they're obviously a bit short on comfort but that's what gives the excursion its charm you don't often get to take a relaxed drive with a bunch of Chinese soldiers this is an exclusive visit this Canyon is in a military zone the Army has just opened it to tourists after cotton the soldiers hope to make some resounding profits from it [Music] today the stakes are high they have to convince their visitors that the site's worth seeing the tour operators will then include it in their itineraries throughout the Rambo the soldiers bend over backwards to entertain the tourists it's a total success the group starts to relax a bit too much for the soldiers discipline is soon restored its back to civilian life in our bus [Music] so kashgar the largest and oldest weaker city unlike a Ruchi which was created by the Chinese cash car is the heart of weaker culture the ancient city continues to live like its distant cousin Istanbul at the pace of a Muslim East UNESCO has tried to make its historic center a world heritage site but China is against it theoria old place okay for a so-called ancient city the houses seem very new to us some of the walls aren't even finished is just for tourists go to the wig is think of this there are P because we have a new apartment before everyone else a brand new home stop answering them we have to move on faster I have to answer their questions our questions start to make the guides uneasy but we're not the only ones in the group to have noticed that none of this decor rings true one of the few Europeans on the trip are German who knows the region is also surprised there are many forbidden things here in any case what isn't forbidden is going inside the widows houses there's no need to ask permission it's allowed by the cash car tourist office obviously when 20 people turn up unexpectedly it can catch the occupants by surprise [Music] [Music] these people really live in this house they're not extras paid to entertain the tourists amazingly no one objects to being filmed or photographed even doing the most private things the week or behave is that we weren't there jeez we soon realized that they had no choice like this week or worker during his lunch break the visitors laughter rings through the peaceful old town under construction it's also calm even the kashgar mosque seems to be sleeping it's hard to imagine that a few months ago thousands of angry Uighur were demonstrating here against the Chinese occupation during our visit we don't see a single policeman around the mosque apparently that's no coincidence [Music] the Turismo in that development poof a electricity over the world of convenience the normal amount of the population can be tcq evenly over the individual villages for 10 days the Chinese communist regime has shown us its vision of Xinjiang for ten days we've received no information about what's going on in the rest of the province while we were playing the tourist along with the military just a few hundred kilometers away more demonstrations were turning to carnage [Music] these images were shot in a room Qi the regional capital of Xinjiang the day we were visiting the mosque in Kashgar per room she was almost under siege and we knew nothing about it [Music] more Uighur riots had just taken place the outcome 27 dead including nine police officers this demonstration of military force had one objective to reassure the Chinese population in view of these images how could we form an opinion of the real situation in the region [Music] there was only one way to come back a few months have gone by we've returned to kashgar today the city is patrolled by the army we cause a routinely checked by the police it's their phones they're interested in an anti Chinese video or message means prison [Music] [Music] this time we've come in on simple tourist visas and we're alone with our small cameras we're going to slip into the crowd and discover another face of this Chinese region far from the propaganda [Music] we've met a wiggle man here he testifies to this police pressure he has a security a little bit tight onions or checkpoints around especially in the evening's you know it's been like this for already for several years you know they we have police like that since 2009 July 5th you know time to time you know checkpoints and if you used to it used to season all around so we already accept that as a part of a life during these checks and demonstrations many weekers have been arrested some have never been tried or returned to their families they've disappeared the family of one of those missing agreed to meet us we enter the old part of kashgar for added security we conduct our interview while driving through the traffic they oppress us the citizens they crushed us without mercy the government has to tell us if my son is dead we can't bear not knowing we're so small and they're so powerful but I want to know if my son has been executed are you under pressure to abandon of course they want to frighten us they watch us they threaten us they stop us leaving our village so that we don't make a fuss every day there are two or three police cars outside my house isn't it dangerous to speak to a foreigner we're no longer afraid they can kill us tires to a tree Infernus how many we core have gone missing like this since the riots in 2009 the opponents speak of 100 what certain is each year dozens of Uighur are officially sentenced to death for terrorism or separatism [Music] the old city like all good tourists we have to pay it a visit and like everyone else we pay to enter these districts turned into a living museum but here again we're in for some surprises that's means good family see that civilize it family this one's it's likely accepted the dedication you are civilized there are lots of plaques there isn't just civilized there's clean - who gives these out it's the government doesn't just award points it's also rebuilding but before that there's demolition to be done over the last few years the old Wiegel buildings have been torn down that's all yes Wow it's a shame that's all old that's all old it's pretty you want the we girth start to see this sad but it's like that in place of the mud houses fine brick dwellings are being built but the workers aren't we go the company is Chinese and then they will find their own people they will give this project to the shinhwa's company in the government offices all of them are Chinese first they will choose them but he's nothing he's a dog puppet [Music] if China is building new safer more comfortable homes it's surely for the good of all including the Uighur it's written on the walls everywhere in big letters the slogans are even translated into week or you can't miss them they're in the Arabic alphabet as for the posters plastered everywhere if they're not written in Chinese it's because for the government they only relate to the week or you can't keep any kind of videos or mp3 that we've music thing which is religion is under close surveillance the local mosques get their share of the little plaques given out by the authorities and to reach those who can't read or children little drawings remind Muslims of the rules you cannot see the movies which is illegal you mean more you didn't get any permission from the government you cannot do that in the family like that and you cannot put any loudspeaker in their mosques or in their religious places the old weak or district is the focus of government surveillance but is it the same everywhere we return to the Grand Bazaar the one we visited at breakneck speed with the official tour group upon entering we notice a difference a metallic voice floods the aisles of the market loudspeakers installed everywhere relay the same information over and over and only in Uighur the loudspeakers aren't just in the bazaar vans broadcast these informative messages in all the weaker districts so that we could they're everywhere with the volume up high the sound system connected to the battery blasts out endless messages the same orders are repeated every day in a continuous loop and only stopped at nightfall they're even outside the Great Mosque in Kashgar on Fridays the holy day we cause flock to hear the sermon a sermon approved beforehand by the regime as we hear from this man a former member of the Islamic Association of China now a refugee somewhere in Europe every Friday before prayer the Imams received three hours of political study from representatives of the propaganda Bureau the Imams are obliged to follow the recommendations published by the Islamic Association of China they also learn the latest local directives or nautical you had looked good and they are reminded what is forbidden to say trickling in particular passages on jihad jihad on jihad might give weekers bad ideas what's more the whole of Islam is forbidden to those under 18 and members of the Communist Party to make sure that they don't come to prayer every entrance is monitored this child and his father are turned away they've been spotted by the security services here there we go as paid by the government they're easy to recognize they're the only ones remaining outside we are not allowed in either China doesn't like to show the crowds in the mosques let's go pretty good more good can we ask him if we can go inside afterwards but we can't I'm going to try can they go inside to film you'll need to answer they just want to take photos no you know it's not possible they'll have to wait until prayers are over understand yes I understand we have to wait outside wait outside it's not possible to go inside I won't let you in not even by the door no despite Chinese pressure we curse have come in large numbers the mosque isn't big enough to hold them all in there hundreds they have to pray outside Islam still plays an important role in the local culture Beijing realized this and decided to retranslate the Quran to justify its colonization policy we met a week or mmm because he refused to follow the party line he had to secretly flee China and take refuge in Europe emotional alert had this law the Chinese authorities have changed the Quranic series to make them compatible with communist principles in their eyes our religion must justify their policy to do this the Chinese authorities haven't hesitated to change the translation of the holy book only the addition of the Quran approved by Beijing is allowed in China as for the Imam if he doesn't comply with Communist Party rules he immediately loses his job has to pay back five years wages and ends up in prison just a few hundred meters from the mosque it's another world that of the Han community the main ethnic group in China this time the police are deliberately visible to reassure the population within a decade nearly 100,000 Han settlers have moved to kashgar they're still in the minority but their lifestyle is imposed on everyone just did we start like that for almost one year now Salem Street they want though ladies open the face up those people who has a belong bread shave it off something like that because for them it's not do that it's explain that but they they will say only old men are allowed to wear a beard the weekers feel they're victims of the beauty project the Chinese authorities have just invented the first apartheid based on aesthetic and religious criteria [Music] [Music] but all of this is done with one purpose to observe the precepts of Mao and the party for the greater good for those in any doubt there's no shortage of reminders in favor of the regime Pierre Bigelow is a researcher specializing in communist regimes he knows exactly how to decipher these propaganda posters the good propaganda isn't simply the threat it's also an attempt to attract young people in particular but not exclusively to attract individuals it gives individuals an ideal done an idea of course it's presented in a very simple way it isn't very subtle it's a call to passion a call to enthusiasm it takes both I think for it to work both the threat and at the same time and attempt to arouse enthusiasm this UCT laughs was yes yeah now I'll do yeah now just look there's an art to writing slogans and with all these communist states for years and years definitely I think that intellectuals were brought in to write slogans that were effective for the party but the importance of these posters and their number is a way of saying that the party is everywhere obviously it's a reminder that big brother is amongst us and everything is under control [Music] sediment technique Yuka said it's the same techniques as those used during the Cultural Revolution and before long word you don't honk it in the time of Stalin Ian China which copied which free copied was inspired by Stalin's Soviet Union whose stadium yen they also makes one think of course of North Korea eloquently do you know with a certain number of simple if not to say simplistic methods I hesitate to say brainwashing because it's not so much washing it as inserting other letters other beliefs installing of a software Natalia no cookies here learn to get a better idea of the way this propaganda is created we've come to this village a hundred kilometers south of kashgar a village renowned for its painters it's these artists the regime has enrolled to put its propaganda into pictures [Music] all of these frescoes were done by one artist when the order was completed he was rewarded with a brand new house this village is brand new a few months ago there was nothing but fields here it was built from scratch to house the best local painters their talent is recognized throughout the whole of Xinjiang a talent immediately collected and brought together in a museum devoted to weaker art at least that approved by the regime the director of this museum isn't used to receiving foreign tourists she's keen to show us the best works in person this one the artist simply entitled the happy years this painting symbolizes the happiness of having been guided by all the Chinese presidents thanks to our current leader Xi Jinping we have received a great deal of wealth we have cars houses the weekers are so happy that they want to stop the clock so that this happy time goes on forever all of these paintings deliver Beijing's messages of the wonderfully this one deals with corruption of the everyday kind and doesn't the artist risk prison for painting this if it was before new president yes now because he's against the pressed against to this so it's possible by involving the week or in producing state propaganda the Chinese regime makes them accomplices it's an old technique which is already proved useful to authoritarian regimes any party within the party or communist parties it was always like that there's one that's floating and a few real opponents so they hit the opponents but it's the one who's floating who's charged with bringing down the real adversaries they're not me yes that way you show your loyalty to the party in digital anneal too much both victims and propagators of this propaganda the Uighur can't escape it it even follows them into the fields in open countryside it reminds them that Beijing isn't far away any stranger inevitably becomes suspect this fear is natural the weaker farmers are particularly monitored by the regime Hasan now a refugee in the United States endured this pressure for more than 20 years they also have a green washing propaganda that propaganda is everyone how to attend is a political study in Chinese propaganda they say it's political study and in the political study you have to stay over there for each week in the Wednesday and Friday afternoon each day is for our afternoon and we have to go there and the tria get training the training is some party both to come to us and give us about the Chinese government's propaganda idea and after a month we have to write a report about what we were thinking after this study we have to show our loyalty in our written statement to the political party and to the Chinese government and this is sometimes it's very painful because you have to in your written statement you have to accuse so-called we were separatist idea we were independence movement and show your loyalty and that's where painful sometimes this propaganda also effects the Han but for other motives the steak wants to convince them to move to shinjang they get the best land in the region these fields were allocated to farmers from Hernan a province 3,000 kilometers to the east they arrived here just one year ago was it when you see Bosque you came here because the land is good yes it's very good here yeah play will you go back to Hernan afterwards I'll go back when I can't work anymore yes can you work with the weaker there aren't any weaker here here it's mainly hard there are a few weak or around though like this young farmer our guide translates for us you work for the Chinese do the Chinese pay well how much do they pay 4200 the interpreter is lying to us doctor city but so they're good bosses everything's fine he doesn't even translate our last question but answers for him fear drives him to self-censor Chinese propaganda is demonstrating it's terrible efficiency yet there are no surveillance cameras in this field not a policeman to be seen just us and the farmers telling us nothing more than why they live here however our guide continues to lie how many turn are they [Music] before he said not so much the interpreter recites his lessons well above all don't let strangers know that the ha are colonizing the region but that's what's happening if these poor farmers left their far-off hernán it's because the authorities pushed them to do so you came from her land because the land is good because there's work we came here because the soil back home has been destroyed by pollution also in her name the state only gives each family one hectare of land over there it's too little to live on Heron Jinjiang we are given a lot more here there's a lot of work we can finally earn enough money for the whole family to us and my husband's parents Beijing can be proud the authorities have succeeded in attracting thousands of migrants to shinjang and this is only the beginning on the way back just before we arrived in Kashgar we drive past the state's strike force a building site stretching for miles on end all of these buildings have been financed by the City of Canton at the other end of China they will soon be inhabited by thousands of Cantonese coming to profit from the we go bonanza copy under control eh Tony Cantonese will be coming here I don't know depends of government about 50,000 to come to needs to come but the we go attempts that got to this reflect they things that stuns us now for them the we go are terrorists there is much money to be making the young [Music] - worlds - lots of propaganda one winner the Chinese regime [Music] as with all the other minorities in the country weaker culture is vanishing all regional particularism must be erased these ancient descendants of the Silk Road merchants have the defect of not being Han I wasn't conscious of Chinese colonization I grew up amongst them and thought that the party had liberated us and was only there to help us it was brainwashing we were only good for following orders it was only after the riots in July 2009 but I understood that we weren't Chinese in our own right I was a teacher at the time the headmaster of the school called all the weaker teachers together he said you Weger you're nothing but mosquitoes never forget that we can break you with just one hand the former teacher is now a refugee in Europe she dares to speak openly with hindsight it's clearer to her now why the state ordered her to speak to her students in Chinese and never in Uighur there are many things that I regret over all those years I taught close to a thousand young readers and I didn't teach them anything about our culture or about our past they don't know that we have a flag and that we once had our own country I only taught them Chinese history for years the we gor have peacefully tolerated the colonization of their region but the situation has become untenable in 1949 when Mao took power the Chinese represented only 6% of the population of the province there now verging on the majority the riots of 2009 changed everything shinjang is at boiling point attacks against the Chinese are increasing today kashgar is almost like a city under siege but not even this police omnipresence instills fear anymore [Music] always a sin if soon as the accident happens somewhere more police but you release historically the people of shinjang practice a moderate and tolerant form of Islam however over the last few months we Gore Islamist movements have claimed responsibility for bombings hundreds of people have died these actions vindicate China which can in turn present itself as a victim of terrorism in the name of public safety Beijing now has free rein to settle the Uighur issue [Music] the pressure on the population is constant we cause of fleeing the country taking refuge in Europe and the United States those who stay are faced with two options revolt or assimilation like the old city of kashgar the Uighur are in danger of vanishing [Music] you

Info

Channel: wocomoDOCS

Views: 1,668,395

Rating: 4.2024312 out of 5

Keywords: China, Politics, PLAY_DOC_EN, PLAY_POL_EN, Uighur, Eastern Turki, Xinjiang, Western China, Autonomous Region, ethnic minorities, Karluk, Persian, Mandarin Chinese, trip in china, travel in china, Traveling in china, visiting china, tourism, Kashgar, Uyghur people, Turkic ethnic group, East Asia, Central Asia, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China, Islam, Chinese government

Id: sJ3fG-tnzCk

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 50min 5sec (3005 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 15 2018

Reddit Comments

As a foreigner that's been to China twice, but never far from the coast, this was quite an eye opening watch. You know China is an authoritarian police state, but you don't really know to just what extent, until you watch this.

👍︎︎ 4 👤︎︎ u/[deleted] 📅︎︎ May 04 2018 🗫︎ replies

If you're short on time watch a few minutes from 00:20:50

👍︎︎ 4 👤︎︎ u/Nihilisticky 📅︎︎ May 04 2018 🗫︎ replies

Having lived in China for 3 years, I agree with the title of this documentary; the Uyghur minority is being oppressed in China.

👍︎︎ 4 👤︎︎ u/cdnkevin 📅︎︎ May 04 2018 🗫︎ replies

Looks like the Chinese have only been getting more ruthless in their colonization.

👍︎︎ 1 👤︎︎ u/critfist 📅︎︎ May 04 2018 🗫︎ replies