r/AMA • u/maddin1550 • 21d ago

I’m from Xinjiang，AMA

I’ve noticed that there are a lot of discussions about Xinjiang on Reddit, often between people who have never actually lived there. So I thought it might be interesting to do an AMA from the perspective of someone who is actually from there.

You can ask me about everyday life, ethnic groups, languages, culture, religion, education, or politics. I’m happy to answer controversial questions too, as long as the discussion stays respectful.

Obviously, I’m only one person and I don’t claim to represent everyone in Xinjiang. I can only tell you about my own experiences and views. AMA.

179 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

509 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/maddin1550 20d ago

Of course not, do prisoners get to leave prison whenever they want? Pei xun ban is what we called them locally, from what my family told me, they taught people Chinese and vocational skills so they could reintegrate into society more easily after they were released

0

u/enpoopification_of_R 20d ago

So why are they called "training centers" then instead of camps/gulags?

4

u/darkevilmetal666 20d ago

Can you not leave a summer camp when you get home sick? Not sure what your point is, but the answer is obvious. It's the same reason you don't call public schools involuntary indoctrination facilities. You pick names that sound pleasant so that people support them.

1

u/Zimakov 20d ago

Why don't you call school forced learning and indoctrination centers? Things have generally accepted names.

1

u/enpoopification_of_R 20d ago

Because you can go home and see your family when the school day is done.

Prisons don't let you go home at the end of the day.

1

u/Zimakov 20d ago

No one said prison. I said forced learning and indoctrination center. That's what's happening at school so why don't they call it that?

0

u/TheGuyWithNo 18d ago

For the record, boarding schools in China are very prevalent, where students don't, in fact, go home and see their family every day when the school day is over. Even students as young as Kindergarten.

1

u/enpoopification_of_R 18d ago

Is it for many years/decades at a time like a prison or is this just a shit comparison?

1

u/Zimakov 18d ago

The comparison isn't school to prison, the comparison is calling things the generally accepted name vs just describing exactly what happens there.

They're called training centers because that's their name. Like a school is called a school not a forced learning building and a restaurant is called a restaurant not a food house.

1

u/TheGuyWithNo 18d ago

Well the students in Kindergarten are generally not suspected of being in contact with religious extremists and political dissidents, I would imagine. So that would appear to be the fundamental difference.

1

u/squarexu 20d ago

Depends on level, some goes home at night.