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A plea to any & all journalists writing on Tibet/Xinjiang and security/repression/surveillance in these areas:
Please *think* before you use "pioneered" & "replicated." Almost all uses of these terms I see are inaccurate. Thread: https://twitter.com/SheenaGreitens/status/1308439261050482697
Please *think* before you use "pioneered" & "replicated." Almost all uses of these terms I see are inaccurate. Thread: https://twitter.com/SheenaGreitens/status/1308439261050482697
In Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo did "pioneer" mass detention, internment camps, & forced residential re-education. He/XJ did NOT pioneer convenience police stations, grid management, CCTV, or general securitization. 2/
He also did not "replicate" his policies in Tibet. He dramatically intensified & expanded them. Re-education in Tibet is different bc of monasteries, geographic/demographic density, & probably the nature of contention (self-immolation vs. violent clashes/attacks). 3/
Even this story (& Zenz paper) make comparisons, but say explicitly in the final paragraph that the TAR does not have "extrajudicial internment." Extrajudicial internment facilities were a major escalation in Xinjiang in March 2017, after the CNSC meeting. 4/
The two regions' policies have been different, & continue to be. This does not make policies less repressive. But equating the types of repression applied could lead us to misunderstand the CCP's logic. If we don't understand, effective policy will be harder. 5/
Also, we need to make sure we are careful about considering Tibet/Xinjiang security policies in the broader context of Xi Jinping's changed approach to domestic/internal security. Policies to these regions are not developed in a vacuum; the rest of China matters. 6/
Chen was in Hebei before Tibet. @Sarah_G_Cook has written about his experience with re-education of religious practitioners there (Falun Gong). He then tried "drip-style re-education" in Tibet, and when he first got to Xinjiang. 7/
https://jamestown.org/program/the-learning-curve-how-communist-party-officials-are-applying-lessons-from-prior-transformation-campaigns-to-repression-in-xinjiang/
https://jamestown.org/program/the-learning-curve-how-communist-party-officials-are-applying-lessons-from-prior-transformation-campaigns-to-repression-in-xinjiang/
I've written elsewhere that as of late 2000s/early 2010's, both Tibet & Xinjiang were probably *under-securitized* by CCP standards -- largely for financial reasons. Securitization spending accelerated first in Tibet, and lagged in Xinjiang. See graph here: 8/
Things like grid management, convenience police stations, use of technology in public security work began to be applied in experiments in the urban east in the mid-to-late 2000s. Chen applied them to catch Tibet/Xinjiang up with much of rest of China, not "pioneer" them. 9/
This matters bc these policies are not "minority policies" that then get applied to the rest of China bc authorities realize they're useful.
Rather, their use in minority regions are fundamentally a subset of broader *internal security* policies. Important difference. 10/
Rather, their use in minority regions are fundamentally a subset of broader *internal security* policies. Important difference. 10/
One thing the CCP has understood from earliest days of its history is that central policies must be adapted to local conditions. So "replication" is almost always a misleading term; we see policy diffusion simultaneous with adaptation. This is an example. 11/
OK, I'll get off the soapbox now and go work on my book manuscript on this stuff. :) Thank you for coming to my Twitter TED talk. 12/
cc: @joshchin @evadou @lizalinwsj @ChuBailiang @paulmozur @catecadell @gerryshih @BethanyAllenEbr @MikeSmithAFR @billbirtles @jodifs @EmilyZFeng @emilyrauhala @ByChunHan @MJSCarney @TheJohnSudworth @meghara even tho you all know this already :)
