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> The system also uses its facial recognition systems to detect ethnicities and labels them — such as “汉族” for Han Chinese, the main ethnic group of China — and

> The system also uses its facial recognition systems to detect ethnicities and labels them — such as “汉族” for Han Chinese, the main ethnic group of China — and also “维族” — or Uyghur Muslims, an ethnic minority under persecution by Beijing. I'm getting some strong ww2 death camp vibes from this...

fit2rule 8y ago
This is way, way beyond death camps, buddy. This is room 101.
- barry-cotter 8y ago
  Oh come on. They’re attempting to “re-educate” a culture out of existence, to prevent the transmission of a language, a religion and an identity, a culture and using the most brutal methods to do so but there are no plans to kill everyone. It’s quite evil enough without trivialising actual attempts at genocide, like in Rwanda, WWII or the Dzhungar genocide. This is an attempt at cultural erasure, not a full blown plan to kill everyone of a particular ethnicity. The PRC party-state will gladly take any Uyghur who will cast off their culture and treat them as a loyal citizen.
  - SOMEONEISWRONG 8y ago
    The PRC party-state will gladly take any Uyghur who will cast off their culture and treat them as a loyal citizen. IIRC, that was the sole purpose of Room 101- to make people "love" their country / governing body.
  - 5trokerac3 8y ago
    They're smart enough to do essentially the same thing, but in a "soft" manner: overwhelm the area with Han Chinese and make it as difficult as possible for the local population to thrive, turning the once majority ethnic group into a almost non-existent minority over many generations (they've also done this in Tibet). The Chinese are calculating their empiric efforts over centuries. It's one of the "benefits" of a totalitarian regime.
    - learc83 8y ago
      Like Tibet they been encouraging Han Chinese to move to Xinjiang for decades. But now that they are putting many of the native Uyghur population in camps, their attempts at tightening their grip on the povince seem to be accelerating.
  - adventured 8y ago
    > The PRC party-state will gladly take any Uyghur who will cast off their culture and treat them as a loyal citizen. If you are Uyghur, you are permanently stamped by it. They will track and watch you with suspicion forever. It will specifically limit your opportunities, the life that is available to you. And since your friends and family are likely Uyghur, in the minds of the authorities that provides all the more reason to be suspicious of you.
- dang 7y ago
  This comment breaks the site guidelines, is unacceptable on HN, and is generally beyond the pale. Please don't vandalize HN this way. More generally, please don't post unsubstantive comments, especially not on such a highly charged topic. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
deogeo 7y ago
On the bright side, at least they make sure their technology works for minorities as well. Perhaps the egalitarian ideas of the West are finally starting to take hold there.

fit2rule 8y ago

This is way, way beyond death camps, buddy. This is room 101.

barry-cotter 8y ago
Oh come on. They’re attempting to “re-educate” a culture out of existence, to prevent the transmission of a language, a religion and an identity, a culture and using the most brutal methods to do so but there are no plans to kill everyone. It’s quite evil enough without trivialising actual attempts at genocide, like in Rwanda, WWII or the Dzhungar genocide. This is an attempt at cultural erasure, not a full blown plan to kill everyone of a particular ethnicity. The PRC party-state will gladly take any Uyghur who will cast off their culture and treat them as a loyal citizen.
- SOMEONEISWRONG 8y ago
  The PRC party-state will gladly take any Uyghur who will cast off their culture and treat them as a loyal citizen. IIRC, that was the sole purpose of Room 101- to make people "love" their country / governing body.
- 5trokerac3 8y ago
  They're smart enough to do essentially the same thing, but in a "soft" manner: overwhelm the area with Han Chinese and make it as difficult as possible for the local population to thrive, turning the once majority ethnic group into a almost non-existent minority over many generations (they've also done this in Tibet). The Chinese are calculating their empiric efforts over centuries. It's one of the "benefits" of a totalitarian regime.
  - learc83 8y ago
    Like Tibet they been encouraging Han Chinese to move to Xinjiang for decades. But now that they are putting many of the native Uyghur population in camps, their attempts at tightening their grip on the povince seem to be accelerating.
- adventured 8y ago
  > The PRC party-state will gladly take any Uyghur who will cast off their culture and treat them as a loyal citizen. If you are Uyghur, you are permanently stamped by it. They will track and watch you with suspicion forever. It will specifically limit your opportunities, the life that is available to you. And since your friends and family are likely Uyghur, in the minds of the authorities that provides all the more reason to be suspicious of you.
dang 7y ago
This comment breaks the site guidelines, is unacceptable on HN, and is generally beyond the pale. Please don't vandalize HN this way. More generally, please don't post unsubstantive comments, especially not on such a highly charged topic. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

deogeo 7y ago

On the bright side, at least they make sure their technology works for minorities as well. Perhaps the egalitarian ideas of the West are finally starting to take hold there.