The moral problem that arises out of state run propaganda does so, not as a result of
target audience believing in
veracity of
propaganda, but, when members of that audience do not believe, however choose to act as if they do in furtherance of their own agendas. A practical problem that arises out of
running of state propaganda, and one that
Nazis had managed effectively, is that for propaganda to be effective
propagandist must be consistent in
untruths and misinformation he propagates. Holes in a boat will eventually sink it.
The People’s Republic of China has, within it’s borders, a relatively little known ethnic minority
Uygur , who live predominantly in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China’s north west border area.
The Uygur are Caucasian, mostly Muslim and speak a Turkic language. The inclusion of
name “Uygur” in
regions title is reflective of
situation in 1955 when
Uygur were by far
largest ethnic group in
region. They currently number some 8.5 million and up until
early 1960’s lived a fairly insular and relatively politically free existence as a result of Xinjiang’s geographical remoteness and it’s then apparent economic bareness. That situation had existed, despite
fact that they had been nominally ruled by successive Chinese regimes, since 1876. Going back in time
Uygur had been in
9th CE, rulers a great empire in Central Asia and in
1940’s had established a short lived independent state of Eastern Turkestan..
Since
early 1960’s, however, things have changed dramatically in Xinjiang. The discovery of rich reserves of natural resources and
increasing strategic importance of
area brought about a PRC policy to populate
region with a resultant inpouring of Han ”migrants”.
The Uygur in a relatively short period of time therefore, have gone from a position of hegemony in 1949 to one of near tenuity now. Their traditional economy has largely been supplanted and their environment has been irrevocably changed.
But
Uygur, to date, has demonstrated a remarkable resilience to these changes. They have refused to be assimilated since
communist takeover as they had refused to be totally subjugated by
Chinese since their first recorded meeting in 63 BCE. They stand out like a sore thumb on
hand of Chinese homogeneity.
From their earliest history
Chinese have pursued an active policy of expansion and assimilation as they moved outwards from
East and
last 53 years under communist rule has been no different. From
early Mao period
PRC has followed an undeclared policy of assimilation of ethnic groups,
Uygur, however, have been less than totally acquiescent to this policy. And, this,
PRC does not like one iota.
Initially,
policies implemented to achieve
PRC’s goal were fairly benign in nature, almost paternal, but, with
failure of
Uygur to comply,
methods have become more overt and much more direct. They have escalated from
novel such as “intermarriage bonuses”, through attempts at religious re-education, to more multi-targeted and concerted plans.
Prior to
riots in Gulja (Yinning) in 1997
Chinese policies had gone fairly much unnoticed by
outside world but with this event
situation altered considerably.
It is not just coincidence then, that subsequent to
riots in Gulja and
severe government recriminations that followed and
world attention ensuant, that
word “Terrorist” began to increasingly replace
century old terminology “Separatist” and “Splittist” to describe those seeking independence from China. The term “Separatist” not having quite
same evil connotations that
term “terrorist” does.
The propaganda machine had been kicked over.
It was put very much into high gear with
events of “9/11”. Within a month of that date, and before
dust of
Twin Towers had settled,
PRC had commenced an orchestrated propaganda and lobby programme in an attempt to couch their policies within
terms of
“War on Terror”. In doing so they hoped to mask
actions they deemed necessary to finish
task of breaking
collective will of
Uygur people.
For propaganda to be successful, however, it must be universally believed and, to be believed, it must be themed, it must be constant and it must be consistent in
misinformation it provides. To this end
PRC has almost failed miserably.