There's alot of western sensationalism surrounding this topic. The bad stuff is all true and happening to a degree.
Tp4 will clarify some of the facts and motivations.
Firstly, Is China doing it up too-Hardcore. Absolutely. They've pushed the envelope a bit far.
Let's also look at the why, where, what and how.
The problem the PRC has with the Uyghur people is not that they're a minority or how they look. The problem the PRC has is with their Religion.
A deeply religious group of people is not modern. Look at the way religion is wielded in modern times. It mainly prays on the poor, is utilized to launder money, radicalizes large groups of such uneducated and poor people, weaponizing them into a threat to national security. Most Rich and well educated people don't believe in god, but they are more than willing to FAKE it for votes /money / and power, example, Putin/ Modi/ Trump, etc
Nothing great has come from general religion in the modern era, only problems, such as war and terr0r1sm.
As a historically patriarchal society, china has a history of abolishing divisive cultures, such as when QingShiHuang unified eastern China, removing different written formats, unifying currency etc.
The location of XinJiang is also critically important. It's all the way to the left where Washington state would be in the USA. But unlike Washington state, there's no oceanic barrier or dependable natural cultural allies for defense.
The position is also difficult to defend as the terrain of central china is not easily traversed, it is mountainous.
The people that live on this west are the Uyghurs. They are culturally different enough such that they don't have the same team dynamic as does the general population. The primary goal is, China does not want to deal with more Hongkong, Pakistan/India, Muslim/Hindu situations. < all of these historical divides are drawn over culture or religion, ideals which are imaginary, but have problematic physical impact potential >
So, what can China do, well, sending more people up there to create more melting pot situation takes too long, not many people are willing to go, because Xinjiang is a 3rd world of the 3rd world. Barely any developed roads, the buses are always late, you have to walk miles between bus stops and they're not always in service. The climate is dry, not great for farming. Industrialization is possible, but it's just not economical because again, central China is not flat like central united states. just easily pave roads all the way across.
If assimilating these rural folks is not possible by near term industry, They decided Re-education camps.
Yea, these are no fun, i mean, you've got comparisons to the Nazi camps by Germany, the japanese internment camps by the United States, Camps are always kinda crap.
The heavy handedness is historically the way it's been done in central China. They won't wait for a natural melting pot, they won't negotiate what they don't have to.
The short version of why is simply, border defense and mitigating future impact/conflict of deep-religious beliefs.
How do they intend to achieve this, well.. this is the most unpleasant part, re-educating deeply religious people to disregard their religion.
Honestly, it's probably easier and most polite to do it through money, inject enough money into the population, they will naturally disregard being broke and religious. However, due to the distance, the lack of industrialization potential of the area (distance/ arid climate), They've done the math, and Camps are cheaper.
To give you an idea of the simplified economic situation of XinJiang, Brothers within the family will fight each other over who gets to enter the monastery to become a monk, because that's their economic-Out, that is the extent of their Social-mobility. You can see why central-China decided to just go in and roll these people, it's wrong to do it like that, but sigh, if the region had anything else, sigh..
The Uyghurs are also not themselves peaceful just want to farm pacifists. There are many regional leaderships which violently fight one another. They've disputed over Religion, leaning of allies, too Russia, too China, silly conflicts. There is no -Unified Uyghur- people. They're many sects.
So that's how it happened... Whenever you've got big camps, low budget, well you create a crappy experience, it's happening. Will it get better, sigh.. Don't know..
If it were up to Tp4, Tp4 would've just dropped the dime on the roads, but well, they want it done tomorrow, so that's how it's gonna be.
To be clear, Tp4 doesn't think religion is bad, however, it is clear as day, religion is bad in the hands of human beings.
Tp4 = Agnostic.
