Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
3A — Thursday March 14, 2019
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Samantha Goldstein
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram
Jeremy Kaplan
Elias Khoury
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Alex Satola
Ashley Zhang
Erin White
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EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
I
n 1982, Chinese citizens
who had been forced to
move to the countryside
under
Chairman
Mao
Zedong’s Cultural Revolution
fled back to China’s urban
centers. However, as this
mass
exodus
occurred,
one young Chinese official
requested
a
position
in
Zhengding, Hebei Province,
far away from the rapidly
growing urban power centers:
Xi Jinping. This seemingly
strange request from the low-
level government worker was
the first notable move by Xi,
who built his career through
shrewd, power-consolidating
moves. Thirty years later, Xi
has become China’s president
and
general
secretary
of
the Communist Party, and
appears
to
have
grand
ambitions for China on both
domestic and international
fronts. However, as China
becomes a dominant player in
world affairs, Xi’s oppressive
government
promotes
a
vision
that
disregards
basic liberties, rights and
international
principles,
making its ambitions a threat
to its own citizens.
The
most
prominent
example of China’s disregard
for human rights is the Xi
government’s
abhorrent
treatment of the Uyghurs, a
primarily-Muslim
minority
ethnic group who live in
the far western province of
Xinjiang. In Xinjiang, the
Chinese
government
has
established
a
surveillance
system
rivaling
the
one
George
Orwell
describes
in
his
novel
“1984”.
In
order to keep tabs on the
Uyghurs, thousands of video
cameras are in place along
streets
in
Xinjiang,
and
policemen are stationed in
front of nearly every major
building. China has recently
even
begun
administering
“physical exams” in order
to non-consensually gather
identification
information
from Uyghur citizens, such
as DNA samples, fingerprint
scans and retinal scans.
However, surveillance is
only the tip of the iceberg in
Xinjiang. Under Xi, China
has also introduced a policy
called “de-extremification,”
which
includes
“re-education”
camps,
to
which over a million Uyghurs
have been sent. The camps
are designed to indoctrinate
Uyghurs through promoting
Chinese
values
and
destroying Uyghur culture.
Treatment
in
the
camps
ranges from things such as
forcing Uyghurs to drink beer
and eat pork (both of which
are forbidden in Islam) to
more extreme human rights
violations, including torture,
the
banning
of
certain
Muslim names and extreme
political
indoctrination.
Politically, China has also
worked
to
limit
Uyghur
rights through the passage
of religious regulations and
counterterrorism laws.
China’s
dedication
to
denying
its
own
citizens
human
rights
is
perhaps
matched
only
by
its
dedication to denying it has
ever done anything wrong.
In response to the Uyghur
controversy, China initially
denied
the
re-education
camps even existed. Once
that was proved verifiably
false, the government shifted
its position, saying the camps
were necessary for fighting
religious
extremism,
and
likened them to boarding
schools
(ironically,
it’s
already illegal for Uyghurs
in Xinjiang to not send their
children
to
government-
run schools). The Chinese
government
has
also
deliberately
spread
false
information about life in the
camps in order to make it
more difficult to accurately
understand conditions there,
and at one point dismissed
criticism of the camps as the
West baselessly criticizing
China’s human rights record.
Though this may seem
awful, it is hardly outside
of the norm for China, a
country that has consistently
opposed human rights. In
addition to cracking down
on
dissenting
journalists,
lawyers and activists within
China, Xi has also worked
tirelessly
to
weaken
the
United
Nations’
ability
to investigate and punish
nations for human rights
violations. In 2017, Human
Rights Watch exposed the
Xi government’s attempts to
prevent critical actors from
contributing to reviews of
China’s human rights record.
In 2018, China introduced a
U.N. bill aimed at limiting
human
rights
oversight,
which suggested replacing
punishments and sanctions
with “dialogue.”
In addition to violating
human rights, Xi has also
worked to strengthen his
personal power as president
at
the
expense
of
both
electoral
fairness
and
previously established rules
and norms. After the death of
Mao Zedong, China shifted
away from focusing on the
power of individual leaders,
implementing
term
limits
which shifted the focus to
party power, a development
many cite as a factor in
China’s subsequent economic
growth. Xi, however, has
reverted strongly away from
this policy. In 2017, the
Communist Party added “Xi
Jinping Thought” to their
Constitution, putting him on
the same level as Mao Zedong.
In 2018, Xi’s Communist
Party, which controls most
of the National Assembly,
voted 2,958 in favor (three
abstained and two opposed)
to
remove
presidential
term limits, allowing him
to
serve
indefinitely.
Xi
has
also
engaged
in
an
anti-corruption
campaign,
which
has
largely
been
used to ensure important
party
positions
are
held
by loyalists. Outwardly, Xi
also preaches party loyalty
above all else to citizens and
had his government issue a
directive that all Chinese
citizens
studying
abroad
“always follow the Party.”
While these developments
may
seem
disheartening,
they reflect a fundamental
difference in governmental
and
geopolitical
attitudes
between China and the West,
something which the West
has consistently failed to
fully comprehend. Unlike the
prevailing Western ideology,
which prioritizes individual
liberties and freedoms as the
essential building blocks of
society, China believes that
strengthening the state is
the highest priority. This
cultural
difference
helps
explain why the Chinese
government takes such a
dim view of human rights —
the rights of the individual
are not of crucial concern,
and they can interfere with
the processes that help the
state. For Xi, consolidating
power is primarily about
attempting
to
run
the
country
as
efficiently
as
possible, something which
democratic norms interfere
with.
Sadly,
this
state-
strengthening approach is
incredibly destructive to the
rights of Chinese citizens,
especially ethnic minorities
like the Uyghurs and those
who
disagree
with
Xi’s
policies.
Ultimately, while China’s
economic and political rise
has been astonishing, the
United
States
and
other
nations
should
be
wary
about China’s policies. Xi
is a politically savvy leader
with lofty goals, but those
goals must be accomplished
without sacrificing human
rights
or
disregarding
international law.
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to tothedaily@michigandaily.com.
KIANNA MARQUEZ | COLUMN
I
’ve
been
thinking
a
lot lately about what I
want to be doing when
I leave college for the real
world. As a freshman, I’m
going to have to decide soon
which undergraduate degree
to pursue so I can have an
idea of the classes I will
need to take in the upcoming
semesters. Just the other
day, things started to click.
I
finally
conceptualized
what
my
ultimate
career
goals are, but at the cost of
informing myself about a
phenomenon that is on its
way to tear our communities
apart:
environmental
gentrification, which is when
policies that are intended to
service the climate drive up
property costs.
Today,
the
lawmakers
of
many
metropolitan
areas
are
seeking
to
improve
the
quality
of
life by urbanizing sectors
that
are
underdeveloped.
For
instance,
Detroit’s
Planning and Development
Department
has
created
several
initiatives
to
improve
infrastructure,
economic opportunity and
neighborhood
relations
over recent years. Federal
and
local
lawmakers
have
also
demonstrated
their
awareness
for
the
need
to
execute
green
urban development in the
process,
making
strides
toward
the
construction
of
more
greenways
and
conservancies
within
the
heart of the downtown area.
Despite these strides, I
fear that Detroit politicians
are
conducting
urban
development
in
a
way
that
prioritizes
profit
for corporations over the
needs of the populations
who live near these new
projects.
Whether
these
projects feature impressive
man-made
infrastructure
or
large-scale
natural
attractions, the possibility
of creating an attraction
just to draw people into the
metropolitan area seems to
promote gentrification. If so,
the actions of our authorities
would contribute more to
the capitalistic side of the
economy rather than the
health of the environment
or
the
wellbeing
of
the
people living in that area.
As a result, I fear that
perpetual
gentrification,
whether
it
occurs
due
to
the
development
of
commercial areas or natural
preservations,
will
create
further economic and social
turmoil for Detroit.
In New York City, the
High Line, a former railroad
line, was renovated to serve
as
greenway
on
which
pedestrians can walk for
miles throughout the city.
Having completed its final
renovations
in
2014,
the
High
Line
has
attracted
nearly five million residents
and tourists for its walkway,
artistic
commissions
and
events.
As
a
result,
the
greenway has undoubtedly
caused
an
increase
in
economic
activity,
profits
for businesses that surround
it and thus in the price
of
the
surrounding
real
estate.
Unfortunately,
this has caused those on
the disadvantaged side of
gentrification
to
feel
its
effects: Many have had to
leave their home in nearby
neighborhoods
or
been
forced to give up their small
businesses due to the growth
of commercial demand.
In an effort to create
a piece of infrastructure
that would make the city
appear greener both visually
and
characteristically,
authorities
in
New
York
utilized
wealthy
and
resourceful
benefactors
to create a monument to
receive
more
money
and
unintentionally
transform
the socioeconomic character
of the area. Greenways like
the High Line that defeat
the
purpose
of
greener
metropolitan areas are being
constructed
in
numerous
locations
worldwide.
I
fear that ours in Detroit,
the
Dequindre
Cut,
will
have a similar fate. These
gestures
to
renovate
current
infrastructure
into
green
infrastructure
mean
well,
but
to
what
extent should we demand
that
they
also
help
the
surrounding
environment
and populations?
For
one,
I
think
it’s
absolutely possible for us to
demand better from project
developers, lawmakers and
monetary
contributors
to
create more mindful urban
developments
than
the
greenways. These projects
can prioritize success for
a
sector
of
society
that
needs it more. In essence,
authorities with control of
metropolitan areas should
adopt a progressive method
deemed
as
“conscious
anti-gentrification”
when
pursuing
green
urban
development.
This
process would consist of
renovating
technology
and
infrastructure
incrementally, allowing the
public to maintain a lifestyle
they’re
comfortable
with
while making small changes
to mitigate the consequences
of peoples’ typical impact on
the environment. As a result,
our neighborhoods should
benefit from improvements
made to the quality of the
environment as well as to
the well-being of the general
public
without
making
drastic changes to its own
socioeconomic character.
In
hearing
about
the
downfalls of green urban
development, I felt within
myself a burning passion to
prevent this type of economic
flourishing that occurs at the
degradation of the lives of
people in my community and
that occurs with ignorance
towards
our
environment.
In essence, I found meaning
in a type of career directed
towards the development of
disadvantaged communities
by
way
of
incremental
change. Therefore, I believe
authorities
should
fulfill
their
intentions
of
urban
growth by designing methods
of change that specifically
address the needs and utilize
the advantages of that area
rather
than
diminishing
it by some overwhelming
economic feat. In doing so,
I foresee these authorities
achieving a society balanced
by the rise of all of the people
it encompasses.
Kianna Marquez can be reached at
kmarquez@umich.edu.
Zack Blumberg can be reached at
zblumber@umich.edu.
As China grows, so does their list of human rights abuses
ZACK BLUMBERG | COLUMN
How seeking a meaningul life starts with incremental change
China believes that
strengthening the
state is the highest
priority
EMILY CONSIDINE | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT EMCONSID@UMICH.EDU
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