Steven W. Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute (PRI), discussed this dire situation in a June 4 op-ed for the New York Post. He referenced the book "No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs" by Nury Turkel for examples of the abuses Uyghurs face daily.
Turkel wrote that every neighborhood in various cities in Xinjiang now has its own "convenience police stations [manned by] low-level assistant police officers, who are more brute muscle than actual law enforcement officers." The Uyghur-American attorney added that each neighborhood is further broken down into small "grids" of 15 to 20 families with a "grid monitor" overseeing each. The grid monitor's task involves snooping on neighbors and reporting any suspicious or forbidden activities, such as refusing to eat pork or fasting during the Ramadan period.
The author and vice chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also wrote how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces the Uyghurs to renounce their Muslim faith in favor of the personality cult of Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping. During the mandatory flag-raising ceremony every Monday, CCP officials "lead chanted slogans about the greatness of the Party, its secretary-general Xi and the need for Uyghurs to abandon their faith."
Turkel recounted the story of Zumrat, a young woman who chillingly recalled the first time she was forced to renounce Islam. During a Monday assembly, a CCP official asked the Uyghur crowd if there is a god. Following a short pause, the crowd – which included Zumrat – answered in the negative before affirming Xi as their "new god."
A terrified Zumrat moved her lips to say the word "no," but did not utter the word itself. She later prayed for forgiveness.
Technology serves as new prison guards in Xinjiang
Mosher also pointed out that technology served to facilitate the suppression and monitoring of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. "The tech explosion has given Xi ways of surveilling the population using artificial intelligence (AI) that the late Chairman Mao [Tse-Tung] could only have fantasized about," he wrote. (Related: Chinese Communist Party ramps up surveillance in the guise of fighting coronavirus pandemic.)
The PRI president dubbed the surveillance mechanism in Xinjiang as "absolutely chilling," outlining Turkel's description of it in his book.
According to the Uyghur-American attorney, every adult Uyghur has been summoned to their local police station over the past few years for "a barrage of scans, tests and examinations … for DNA profiling. [They were also ordered to] read from a set text for 45 minutes, so their voices could be recorded and identified." Turkel added that this also enables "spies with listening devices parked outside people's houses" to find out who was talking.
Aside from the biometric data collection, adult Uyghurs were also forced to talk, smile and frown in front of a bank of cameras. This "trains" the AI to identify each and every Uyghur captured on video even though they are not looking at the camera.
Mosher noted that the CCP has also tapped into smartphones as thought police. Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang province have been required to download the "Clean Internet Security Soldier" app, which monitors "suspicious activity."
"If you buy more groceries than usual, AI alerts the police that you may have unregistered guests and your home is raided. If you buy more gas than usual, the police will stop by to ask where you think you are going."
Zumrat had been one of the victims of the AI surveillance technology. She had committed the "mistake" of texting the Islamic expression "peace be upon you" to a friend.
"Shortly thereafter, a security official approached her and told her the Arabic phrase was now banned. She had to stick to the 'national language' – the new official term for Mandarin. Next time, the official warned, things wouldn't be so easy for her," Turkel wrote.
Watch this video outlining the different abuses Uyghurs in Xinjiang experience daily.
This video is from the ZGoldenReport channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
CCP pursues lawsuits against German researcher who uncovered human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Faith leaders issue joint statement slamming China's persecution of Uighurs.
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