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We all ought to stop saying "Xinjian, China" or "Uyghur region of China." The proper name is (occupied) East Turkestan[1], which is not rightfully part of China

We all ought to stop saying "Xinjian, China" or "Uyghur region of China." The proper name is (occupied) East Turkestan[1], which is not rightfully part of China. For all the talk about North Korea (which is by all means a despicable county), China not only treats its citizens (people who live in actual China) as badly as NK, but it illegally occupies East Turkestan and threatens to invade Taiwan if anyone questions their 2+2=5 stance that they control it. We ought to offer refuge to the Uyghur people, or better yet use our military forces to help them retake control of their county. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Turkestan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Turkestan

Mediterraneo10 8y ago
In the 1990s I might have been sympathetic to insisting on the name "East Turkestan" and being idealistic about an end to the Chinese presence there. However, as I have seen personally from traveling in the region, China simply moved too many Han people into it already. That’s that, it’s over. The situation would nearly be like insisting that Kaliningrad is rightfully German after the Soviet Union managed to change its population demographics overwhelmingly and obscure so much of its pre-Soviet history.
- yummypaint 8y ago
  If that's the case, then the discussion should be about reparations
  - CharlesColeman 8y ago
    Perhaps not yet. If the colonization is mostly post-1990s (like the GP suggests), then it seems reasonable to insist that the colonists themselves leave. They're not innocent. It's only when you get to later generations, children and grandchildren that didn't choose to be born where they were, that it gets complicated to the point that there are no good solutions.
    - thratchnee 8y ago
      >They're not innocent of what exactly? Being alive? How enlightened of you, to stop one genocide by committing another.
philwelch 8y ago
Who's this "we" you keep mentioning?
- thratchnee 8y ago
  According to other commenters on this site, "The West". How they've come to the conclusion that a technology forum should be the place to discuss the most beneficial Western geopolitical strategy is beyond me.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
>or better yet use our military forces to help them retake control of their country Getting into a land war with China (who is probably the second most powerful military in the world) in a land-locked province with no realistic means of transporting and supplying troops would be very unrealistic to say the least. Even invading Hong Kong would be unrealistic, but that is 100x more practical than this suggestion.

Mediterraneo10 8y ago

In the 1990s I might have been sympathetic to insisting on the name "East Turkestan" and being idealistic about an end to the Chinese presence there. However, as I have seen personally from traveling in the region, China simply moved too many Han people into it already. That’s that, it’s over. The situation would nearly be like insisting that Kaliningrad is rightfully German after the Soviet Union managed to change its population demographics overwhelmingly and obscure so much of its pre-Soviet history.

yummypaint 8y ago
If that's the case, then the discussion should be about reparations
- CharlesColeman 8y ago
  Perhaps not yet. If the colonization is mostly post-1990s (like the GP suggests), then it seems reasonable to insist that the colonists themselves leave. They're not innocent. It's only when you get to later generations, children and grandchildren that didn't choose to be born where they were, that it gets complicated to the point that there are no good solutions.
  - thratchnee 8y ago
    >They're not innocent of what exactly? Being alive? How enlightened of you, to stop one genocide by committing another.

philwelch 8y ago

Who's this "we" you keep mentioning?

thratchnee 8y ago
According to other commenters on this site, "The West". How they've come to the conclusion that a technology forum should be the place to discuss the most beneficial Western geopolitical strategy is beyond me.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago

>or better yet use our military forces to help them retake control of their country Getting into a land war with China (who is probably the second most powerful military in the world) in a land-locked province with no realistic means of transporting and supplying troops would be very unrealistic to say the least. Even invading Hong Kong would be unrealistic, but that is 100x more practical than this suggestion.