Actually, most “harmonious societies” are a little rigid in enforcing laws.

An effective penal code is the center of every large society with social order.

Even in US, Free speech has limits. Some “criticisms” are deemed dangerous and unacceptable even in US.

It’s all a trade off.

“A harmonious society is one that accepts imperfections.”

It will take a while until both the government and the people are matured enough to get there. Before that “harmonious” mostly means “shut up”.

There are actually a lot more criticism and tolerance for it in China than before. But there is a fine line about how far you can go. A general rule is as an individual you are free to say anything against the government, but if you try to blow it big by gathering followers then you will be in trouble.

The Chinese government do have the intention to hold official accountable for whatever they do. But they don’t seem to believe the best way to achieve this is through criticism because every time they try to allow it, the situation would spiral out of control and end up in chaos. So it may not be the best interest for the country to do so, not to mention that nobody currently has the political capital to get into such a sensitive area.

That would be a rather lame law which prohibits criticism while trying to project a “Harmonious society”. A harmonious society is one that accepts imperfections.

Ignorance of law is not an excuse. The law is the same for all ethnic groups.

He knew the Chinese law, in fact, his friends warned him not to do it.

There are no legal constraints on the Chinese government when it comes to persecuting minorities, only political constraints.

Depends on the country.

In US, Insulting a religion is definitely not a crime, but in Saudi Arabia it is.

In US, defaming some public official can be a civil liability, in China, it can be.

He knew the Chinese law, in fact, his friends warned him not to do it.

“He was not accused of defamation. And usually Han Chinese don’t disappear without a trace for having said the wrong thing, it’s not 1978. But if you are an Uighur, different rules apply. Don’t deny it.”

Oh please, saying the “wrong thing” is a crime in many countries. (Insult Islam in Iran and Saudi Arabia will probably get you jail time or worse, your head cut off.)

“Disappear”? He told his friends that the security people have detained him. He’s in jail!

“Different rules apply”? We have plenty of Han Chinese dissidents in the West who said otherwise.

But just as the original post said the holiday issues highlights that Han can function without Uighurs but Uighurs themselves cannot function as a society.

Because you don’t allow them to function as a society. Under the PRC, all separate Uighur organization and institutions have been dismantled, mosques razed, schools closed, land confiscated. And you changed their written language three times for political expediency. This is not a blame game. All the things that have prevented the Uighurs from advancing are still there and they are not allowed to talk about it.

@raventhorn4000

He was not accused of defamation. And usually Han Chinese don’t disappear without a trace for having said the wrong thing, it’s not 1978. But if you are an Uighur, different rules apply. Don’t deny it.

“We have a concrete example of how arbitrary accusations of seprartism are in the recent case of the Beijing-based Uighur economist Ilham Tohti, who is being incarcerated as we speak. Alienating secularized and moderate people like him is the best way of pushing Uighurs into the separatist camp.”

It’s hardly “arbitrary”. He went on Radio Free Asia to defame a Uighur official. Any Chinese of any ethnicity would be prosecuted for the same offense.

You can always point things out that do not go your way and blame on others. But just as the original post said the holiday issues highlights that Han can function without Uighurs but Uighurs themselves cannot function as a society. I am not endorsing his opinion but I am merely citing it here to try to give you an example how other people think about Uighurs.

Just like the Chinese government can continue to claim that it’s the west that totally gets the fact wrong, and they would go to nowhere. They have now learned their lesson and started to adapt. You can continue to claim that there is nothing can be done on the Uighurs side and it is all Chinese governments fault. The result for you would not be much different. It’s a dead end and you won’t get to anywhere either.

Both sides need to take a constructive approach and try to understand each other’s concern. Neither side will get 100% of what they wanted. Size matters. Economy matters. Moral value matters. But if you take this kind of it’s all your fault attitude you won’t even get seated on the table, how would you expect the problem to be solved then? If you believe you can solve the problem by taking the street then it is truly unfortunate.

We have a concrete example of how arbitrary accusations of seprartism are in the recent case of the Beijing-based Uighur economist Ilham Tohti, who is being incarcerated as we speak. Alienating secularized and moderate people like him is the best way of pushing Uighurs into the separatist camp.

@jc

Minorities have some inherited disadvantages. And they will need to realize that this is a reality and it is nobody’s else fault. I’ve seen a lot of new Chinese immigrants in U.S. who have enjoyed relatively decent material life when they were back in China, keep complaining about that there is no good Chinese grocery store or restaurant in the states.

Sorry, but there is absolutely no parallel between the Uighurs (still a majority in Xinjiang) and Chinese immigrants in the US. The Uighurs have no other “inherited disadvantage” than being deprived of any influence in the affairs of Xinjiang because the former ethnic minrioty has taken over and is setting the rules. Under the rule of Wang Lequan, Uighurs have openly been singled out as backward and in 2002 Wang claimed that Uighur is not fit as a language of the 21st century. As if he had ever made an effort to string two words together in the language of the people he is ruling over.

Even in a city like Kashgar, where Uighur are still 90%, the local university teaches in Chinese only. You cannot justify that by saying that Chinese is the “official language” – the non-Han ethnic groups were promised that their languages would be shoved aside like this.

The fact that local universities in Belgium only taught in French a generation ago caused Flemish people to riot in democratic Belgium. Imagine what Uighurs are going through in one of the regions where the local government is the least sensitive to local opinion!