Understanding the Uyghur Genocide in Xinjiang
Use this lesson plan to teach students about the ongoing genocide of Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province and compare it to past events.
What’s Happening China's in Xinjiang Province?
Over the last several years, an increasing amount of China’s minority Uyghur population and other Muslim minorities (like Kazakhs) in the western Xinjiang province have been taken and forced into what the government calls re-education camps. Although many of these people have not even committed a crime, downloading “pernicious” apps like WhatsApp, maintaining ties with family abroad, engaging in prayer and visiting foreign websites are all offenses for which people have been sent to camps.
Update
A recent U.N report says China is responsible for ‘serious human rights violations’ in Xinjiang province.
The Chinese government has rounded up so many people that it had to build vast confinement spaces, some as large as multiple football fields, across the region to hold the population. China continues to run these camps under the guise of “fighting terrorism and alleviating poverty,” but international critics and satellite imagery suggest otherwise. Watch the brief video below on who the Uyghurs are and why China’s actions may constitute genocide.
Discussion Questions
- Who are the Uyghurs, and where do they live in China?
- Why is Xinjiang province so valuable to the Chinese government?
- Why does the Chinese government view Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the region as “dangerous”?
- What is a surveillance state? Why might mass surveillance of a population be concerning for ordinary citizens?
- What are re-education camps? The Chinese government claims they are providing skills and training, but do you see these policies as having any other effects?
- WATCH(20s): The rapid expansion of a suspected internment camp in Xinjiang.
- The U.S. officially condemned China at a U.N. rights forum. Why do you think more hasn’t been done?
- Look at the birthrate chart below and refer to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Do you think what’s happening in Xinjiang constitutes genocide according the United Nations?
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Propaganda and Media Literacy: Comparing Past and Present
Replay the above video from 2:30-2:45. Why does the Chinese government show people in what they call re-education camps as happy and thriving?
Key Term
propaganda—“... the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person”
How does propaganda from the Chinese government relate to what happened with Germany in World War II? Read this article about Theresienstadt from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and watch the video. Discuss why governments use propaganda.
For Educators: Attain free professional development credits and learn more about the aforementioned case by watching this on-demand webinar: Media Literacy for Today’s World: Lessons Learned from Nazi Propaganda.
Extension Activity: The Influence of Social Media
Have students watch the video below about outrage from Chinese citizens over international brands like H&M, Nike and Adidas boycotting cotton from Xinjiang, and consider China’s global influence. Do you think these brands were right in refusing cotton from Xinjiang? Why or why not? Dig deeper with students and read this brief article.
Andy Kratochvil is an SML team member who loves hiking, video games, scary books, Mexican food, and finding great content for the Share My Lesson community. He studied political science and French at California State University, Fullerton and received his Master’s in International Affairs from... See More
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