Re: Leave China alone

Submitted by Anon (United States), Sep 16, 2019 at 00:30

I wasn't talking about the Chinese people either (even though I referenced them at the end but it was to make a general point). I am talking mainly about the Chinese govt and their policies in the Xinjiang province. I am sympathetic to their policies in this regard even though I would condemn their policies in Tibet and HK. Let me explain with another example that I think indirectly illustrates China's dilemma vis a vis the Uighurs. A few months ago - the US Department of State on its website gave the highest possible ratings to Sri Lanka in terms of how safe it was to visit (Level 1). Level 1 put Sri Lanka at par with Switzerland or Japan. Then on April 21st (Easter Sunday) a series of devastating suicide attacks were unleashed by members of Muslim minority (the perpetrators included millionaires and even a pregnant woman) that targeted the Christian minority and Westerners in posh hotels. Today the US Department of State warns tourists against visiting Sri Lanka due to "terrorism" and Sri Lanka's tourism industry has been hit hard to the tune of at least a percentage point of GDP. All it took was one suicide attack to scare tourists away and bring a country that had just recovered from a decades old civil war to its knees.

This is the reality that China has to grapple with. It, like Israel, simply cannot afford to sit back and wait for a terrorist attack and pick up the pieces later. The only way it can survive is by staying ahead of the terrorists and it is not a simple thing to do. Otherwise the damage, as we see in Sri Lanka, can take a very long time to be reversed. Western commentators who criticize China or Israel or Sri Lanka for dealing with the realities of its circumstances are actually taking an immoral stance that harms everybody in the long run.

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