This past June, American President Joe Biden made it clear to
G7 leaders
it was high time the world took concrete steps to counter
China’s rising global
influence, especially its controversial “Belt-and-Road Initiative.”
اضافة اعلان
To
offset what many analysts deem as Beijing’s rapidly growing world domination,
the Democratic president has recently put into motion a multi-billion-dollar
plan aimed to offer world nations and allies, like Jordan, a “higher quality”
alternative to China’s Belt-and-Road infrastructure project.
Many around the globe, who have been quite frustrated by China’s ethically-questionable
and oppressive policies towards the Uyghur Muslims, see these American plans as
a step in the right direction.
The US, in particular, has seen bipartisan unity in its criticism of
China's “slow-motion genocide” of Uyghur Muslims living in Xinjiang, a region considered
by right-wing American media to be nothing more than “economic ambition”
masquerading as faith-based animosity.
According to the Washington Examiner, a conservative news website, “The Uyghur genocide in
Xinjiang … has a clear economic motive: to pave the way for China’s Belt-and-Road
Initiative, much of which runs through Xinjiang to Central Asia and the Middle
East.”
The
website adds: “Central to Beijing’s global dominance ambition, the economic
plan requires an elevated level of social control that’s at odds with the
Uyghur way of life. The result is the horrific destruction of the Uyghur
identity and Uyghur lives …”
Across the pond in the UK, lawmakers have recently called on their
government to take more action on the Uyghurs in China, fueled by more and more
disturbing news about concentration camps and abuses committed against a group
of people, whose “fault” is following the peaceful tenants of Islam.
But
what is truly troubling is the observation that here in Jordan, local media has
mysteriously kept its distance from the topic of the Uyghur
Muslims!
Curiously, top-tier
media outlets based in Amman have published almost no news at all about the
painful experiences of a group of people who, some may argue, form a natural
extension to Jordan’s identity and mission as an ambassador to moderate Islam. To add to the mystery, a quick internet
research will produce a lone syndicated op-ed appearing in a local English-speaking
newspaper in 2018, but not much else.
This unawareness of the world around us is terrifying, especially that
other topics are often easily blown out of proportion. How come, for instance,
we are quite aware of offences against Muslims in certain countries in Europe
and are readily persuaded into boycotting their products, while the Uyghur
Muslims are not on our radar to begin with?
This seriously calls into question our understanding, as Jordanians, of the
pressing issues around us, and whether the local media’s editorial policies are
complicit in our ignorance of this topic in particular.
That is why, as someone who has worked in public relations and damage
control, I consider this article, in and of itself, a “test run” to quantify whether
this overwhelming ignorance of the pains befalling our brethren, the Uyghur
Muslims, is the result of a conscious public relations effort to keep the topic
tightly under wraps!
This said, the issue of faith-based oppression is not the only angle
critics are often seen aiming for. Many cite other deep philosophical
differences between their ethos (as humanists aspiring for the greater good), as
opposed to the Chinese regime’s belief system, to substantiate their full
support of the new “alternative” American plan.
In their eyes, such philosophical disparities present themselves in the
unethical use of Big-Tech surveillance methods to monitor citizens. This is the
bedrock to China’s famed “Social Credit System,” designed to monitor and rate
citizens’ and companies’ every move, in a bid to guide their behavior, with the
aim of achieving full compliance with the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s viewpoint.
Advocates of democracy and human dignity often remark that this style of
governance amounts to bringing authoritarianism to the next level. In fact,
just a couple of days ago, the American media outlet, Bloomberg, published a
piece with an amusing headline that perfectly encapsulates the spirit of
oxymoron — titled, “China’s Progressive Authoritarianism.”
Another Bloomberg piece titled, “The Real Reason China is Cracking Down on its Tech Giants,” speaks about sudden and sweeping regulatory measures the Chinese government has
recently undertaken to show its tech sector “who is boss” — with the
side-effect of wiping some $400 billion off the value of US-listed Chinese
companies this month alone.
Analysts
say these recent developments are part of the ongoing tug-of-war between the
White House and the Asian country.
It
is no secret that in early June, President Biden has also issued an “executive
order” to enforce a ban on 59 companies, including Huawei, expanding on a
Trump-era policy. This move bans Americans from investing in a number of
Chinese companies that the US administration says have ties to defence or
surveillance technology sectors in China.
As
American allies in the region (and beyond) brace themselves for the
repercussions of this speedy deterioration in US-Chinese ties, many are
wondering about the fate of recent moves to persuade Jordan to join the
Belt-and-Road Initiative, as a means to enhance the country’s economic-growth
plans.
Jordan’s renewed friendship with the US following the recent Royal visit,
and the prospect
of an American economic “alternative,” could be enough to put a pin in such
proposals, floated recently in the local media.
Navigating
what looks like a territorial battle across all regions of the world is
definitely an angle to be aware of, before taking any risky measures that could
place us at the heart of an ever-escalating situation.
Geopolitics aside, maybe it is also time we started
placing issues pertaining to human dignity and the right-to-exist at the top of
our priorities as we weigh our economic options. To say it as transparently as
possible, no economic gain should blind us to human tragedy, or to our own
guiding principles and ethos. In view of all this, the Uyghur Muslims — without a doubt — deserve our unwavering empathy, passionate advocacy, and undivided
attention.
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