What Australia's ABC channel saw in Uyghur means "normalization"?

Australia's ABC channel recently produced a special program after the Chinese government took part in a special interview with the Uyghurs.

 "This is the Xinjiang that the Chinese government wants the world to see! Smiling Uyghur dancers dancing with Chinese tourists was a perfect symbol of unity…”

 Australian radio-television ABC channel reporter started the news program based on his interview with Uyghur Eli with these words. ABC reporter David Lipson also said:

 "We came to Xinjiang for an interview arranged by the Chinese government for journalists. "Every place we visited was carefully prepared to showcase the best of the region."

The Chinese government has been organizing such visits to justify its ongoing policies against the Uighurs, which the governments and parliaments of democratic countries such as the United States are calling "genocide" and "crimes against humanity." In particular, in early September of this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping came to Urumqi as soon as he returned from the meeting of the BRICS leaders in South Africa and insisted on "opening up Xinjiang to domestic and foreign tourists" along with unwavering implementation of the policies that have been implemented so far. .

In addition to the Australian ABC channel, the interview, arranged by the Chinese government, included journalists from more than 20 countries, who were sent to Urumqi, Kashgar and Turpan. According to a video produced by an ABC reporter, they were taken to a primary school where Uyghur children study, and they filmed a group of children dancing on the school grounds. They also filmed people playing drums and dancing in the streets.

A reporter from Australian radio-television channel ABC is going through a security check when interviewing Uyghur Eli.

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 ABC reporters interviewed Imam Sidiq, a shopkeeper in a town in Kashmir who claimed to have been "educated" in a camp. This Uighur told reporters that he was infected with radical ideas and did not allow his wife to go out to work. After 7 months of training, he realized his mistake. He also insisted that he did not face any hardships in the camps.

According to the ABC reporter, while they were talking with Imam Siddique, a man suddenly appeared and filmed every word of Imam Siddique.

Dr. Henry Shazewski, a senior researcher at the Uyghur Human Rights Foundation in the United States, said the Chinese government is fiercely guarding the narrative it is trying to spread to the world. He said, "When reporters who don't have the opportunity to meet Uyghurs freely have the opportunity to interview a Uyghur, a person shows up and takes pictures of them." From this, we can see that the Chinese government will strictly protect the story it has planned so that it does not contradict what it wants to show to the world.

In his speech, Henry Szczewski also noted the importance of paying attention to the words of those who live in the free world, where there is no fear of government reprisals, to learn the truth in the region. He said:

 "Does anyone who has arrived at this camp have the right to tell foreign reporters anything other than what the Chinese government is pushing? No. Because he knows what the consequences will be if he speaks other than the government. In such a situation, we should pay more attention to the words of witnesses living abroad in the free world.

ABC reporters noted on the program that they were not allowed to go anywhere and that requests to visit the camps were denied, but it referred to the camps as "former camps" and stated that the camps were closed in 2019, according to the Chinese government.

Journalists also visited the Igah Mosque. On the day they were allowed to visit, there were only a dozen people in the mosque, and all those praying were over 50 years old. The reporters showed a video shot by this channel in Kashgar in the 1990s. At that time, thousands of people gathered to pray in this mosque.

ABC TV also stated that the Chinese government has long since destroyed the ancient city of Kashgar, and now it has been turned into a park for Chinese tourists, and everything is monitored by security cameras.

ABC TV reported that China's policies in the region have been called "genocide" by the US government, and UN human rights organizations have concluded that "crimes against humanity" may have been committed in the region. It was described as a reaction to acts of "violence and terrorism".

"The crackdown follows a decade of unrest that began in Urumqi in 2009, killing hundreds of people, and in 2013, when five people were killed in a car attack on pedestrians in Beijing's Tiananmen Square," an ABC news article said. In 2014, when Xi Jinping was visiting the region, there was a knife and explosive attack at the Urumqi train station, and he ordered his officials to crack down on terrorism.

Dr. Henry Szajewski expressed his attention to this point: "journalists who go to Uyghur should be careful when describing the incident and not become part of the Chinese government's propaganda." He said:

 "While the ABC reporters did a pretty good job of covering the news, the policies were put in place after radical attacks in the region. Yes, even if we accept that there is some violence there, we must not forget that most of it is state violence. Again, punishing an entire nation for one incident is a grave violation of human rights. Journalists should pay attention to this when reporting on the issue.

During his recent visit to Urumqi, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave instructions on how to "better tell the story of Xinjiang through the development of tourism." Observers therefore cautioned that such visits should not serve China's intended purpose.

Wang Yachiu, a researcher at Liberty Hall in the United States, told our radio station that foreign journalists who were invited by the Chinese government "must be fully reminded of the conditions of the visit." He said:

 "Of course, Freedom Hall is not opposed to journalists going to Xinjiang. But they must fully disclose the details of how the access was implemented. For example, what kind of visit is this visit? Whether it was organized by the government, under what conditions the government accepted the interview, who paid for the interview, and what conditions were imposed on them should be disclosed.

In his speech, Wang Yachiu also said that "the situation in the region should be fully reflected" when working on interview programs for the Uyghur people. He said:

 "The reporter should fully explain the situation to the reader. For example, since 2017, a lot of news has been made about what is happening in Xinjiang, and many reports have been prepared. The audience needs to know that there is something else behind what the cameras are showing. Journalists should give the audience a full picture of the situation that forces the people on camera to talk, dance and sing. »

In an interview with ABC, the Chinese government is currently promoting tourism in the Uyghur Islands, and 190 million Chinese tourists have come here so far, and the government hopes to attract foreign tourists. He concluded his program with the following words: “What we see here is the end of repression and the hidden, and the transition to normalization. Our travel was strictly controlled. However, the Chinese government seems to have the confidence to show the world that it has completed its work, that the ``One China policy'' is working well, and that Xinjiang is open to the world.

Abdu Wali Ayup, a Uyghur intellectual based in Norway, noted that there is no "normalization" in the Uyghur community. "If things were really normal, journalists would be free to do whatever they wanted," he insisted. He also noted that the so-called "normalization" that China wants to show means that the Uyghurs will get used to high-pressure policies, hostages and camps, and continue their lives. reminded.

Jokowi emphasized that Indonesia's digital roadmap must be detailed and tactical

Jakarta - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that Indonesia's digital roadmap must be prepared in detail and tactically to face the challenges of global digitalization.

“We really have to have this digital Indonesia road map. The strategy, direction, targets must be detailed, must be tactical and must be detailed. "We can no longer make something that is fanciful but can't be implemented," said Jokowi to Participants in the XXIV Short Education Program (PPSA) and Alumni of the 2023 Regular Education Program Class (PPRA) LXV of the National Resilience Institute of the Republic of Indonesia at the State Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday.

Jokowi said that in Indonesia's digital roadmap, a sky toll will be drawn up relating to digital infrastructure, digital government, digital economy and digital society.

He asked that every digital sector must grow and have targets. Therefore, there needs to be a detailed direction and strategy in the digital Indonesia roadmap.

He gave an example that several years ago, the Indonesian Government had planned to build Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) throughout Indonesia, including the frontier areas. However, there were obstacles in the BTS development process.

“BTS is a problem. "This means that this has been pushed back again, although I am sure it can be resolved eventually," he said.

As is known, the construction of the telecommunications signal transmitting tower was hampered due to the alleged involvement of former Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G Plate in the alleged corruption case in the procurement of 4G BTS which was investigated by the Attorney General's Office.

President Jokowi emphasized that each party should always focus on solutions if they encounter problems in development, including the development of digital infrastructure.

Currently, said Jokowi, digitalization is in the spotlight in various parts of the world.

"At the G20 in India yesterday there were 6 big countries, I don't need to mention them, talking and worrying. It seemed like I read the concerns about AI (Artificial Intelligence), and they admitted that they were late in preparing the regulations," he said.

Jokowi also talked about the importance of the leader who will be elected in the next three elections, namely the 2024, 2029 and 2034 elections. This is because the leadership of the prospective leader will determine whether the Indonesian nation will succeed in leaping to become a developed country or not.

“Because we have a demographic bonus and that is what I said earlier. because now we know everything is digital, everything is online," he said.