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https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/11/china-hi-tech-war-on-muslim-minority-xinjiang-uighurs-surveillance-face-recognitionPublished by: THE GUARDIAN on 11 Apr 2019
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Smartphones and the internet gave the Uighurs a sense of their own identity – but now the Chinese state is using technology to strip them of it In mid-2017, Alim, a Uighur man in his 20s, returned to China from studying abroad. As soon as he landed back in the country, he was pulled off the planeby police officers. He was told his trip abroad meant that he was now under suspicion of being “unsafe”. The police administered what they call a “health check”, which involved collecting several types of biometric data, including DNA, blood type, fingerprints, voice recordings and face scans – a process that all adults in the Uighur autonomous region of Xinjiang, in north-west China, are expected to undergo.
After his “health check”, Alim was transported to one of the hundreds of detention centres that dot north-west China. These centres have become an important part of what Xi Jinping’s government calls the “people’s war on terror”, a campaign launched in 2014 [...]
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Who are The Guardian?The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of The Guardian free from commercial or political interference".
What is Technology?Technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. A modern example is the rise of communication technology, which has lessened barriers to human interaction and as a result has helped spawn new subcultures; the rise of cyberculture has at its basis the development of the Internet, computer, smartphone, and Artificial Intelligence.
What is Uyghur?The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnicity who live in East and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, where they are amongst the 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities. Uyghurs primarily practice Islam. Significant diasporic communities of Uyghurs exist in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, and in Turkey. Smaller communities are found in Afghanistan, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Canada and the United States.
What is China?China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC) is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2019. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, it is the world's third or fourth-largest country by area. Governed solely by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. China is a unitary one-party socialist republic, and is one of the few existing nominally socialist states. Political dissidents and human rights groups have denounced and criticized the Chinese government for human rights abuses, including suppression of religious and ethnic minorities, censorship, mass surveillance, and their response to protests, notably in 1989.
What is Islam?One of the major religions of the world, Islam literally translates to "submission," as a follower of Islam (Muslims) devotes their life to that of their God. The religion began with the teachings of Muhammad in the 7th century. The theology of Islam is based on the Qur'an, which was given to Muhammad by God. Some of the major fundamental principles of Islam include the Five Pillars, which hope to unite all Muslims into a community. Two different factions of Muslims exist - the majority are known as Sunni, with a small percentage known as Shi'a - both predominantly reside throughout the Middle East. Muhammad died in 632 AD and the religion of Islam formally started after his death. The Quran was formally compiled and finalised in 650 AD, prior to which it was 'memorised' and written across many parchments.
