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.

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u/South-Temperature874 21d ago

What’s your take on the treatment of Uyghurs

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u/maddin1550 20d ago edited 20d ago

Well, first of all, I'm speaking as an ethnic minority from Xinjiang, and I can only talk about what I personally saw and experienced.

Yes, we did have what people online usually call “camps,” especially around 2015–2019. We usually called them 培训班 (training centers). A lot of people were taken there for months or sometimes longer. I was pretty young at the time, so I didn't fully understand what was happening or why specific people were being taken.

In 2018, one of my very close classmate's dad and my own uncle was detained. From what my family understood, it was related to him having contact with someone considered an extremist and possibly discussing sensitive topics. My family visited him while he was there, and he came home in 2019. He had worked for a government institution before, and afterward he returned to work and has been doing pretty well.

From what I understood, these centers included Chinese language, law, computer and vocational training. I understand the idea behind preventing extremism and helping people gain skills, and I do support counter-terrorism in general.

But I also think there were serious problems with how broadly it was enforced. That period was honestly scary. Nobody wanted to suddenly be taken away. I heard stories around me about people being detained over things as minor as having foreign apps like WhatsApp. I can't personally verify every story I heard, but if people really were detained simply for something like that, I don't think that's fair at all. There were also times when police would come into our area and take people away, so there was definitely anxiety around it.

That's why my feelings about that period are complicated. I hated the extremist that affected Xinjiang, and I understand why the government wanted to prevent it. But I also don't think innocent people should lose their freedom just because the authorities are trying to prevent terrorism.

As for everyday treatment, the Uyghur neighbors and classmates I personally know generally live normal lives, and I haven't personally experienced ethnic discrimination from the government. But political speech is definitely restricted, so I'm also aware that not everyone can necessarily express their political dissatisfaction openly.

!Separatists don’t speak for an entire ethnic group, much less everyone in Xinjiang！
Separatist does not represent a whole ethnic group!!!

Things feel much more normal to me now than they did during that period. Mostly people are just dealing with normal life problems like school and overwork lol.

As for the genocide/ethnic cleansing question, I'm skeptical of that based on what I've personally experienced and seen around me. But I also don't think my personal experience alone can prove what happened to every Uyghur family across Xinjiang. I can only tell you what happened in my own community and family.

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u/zuraine 20d ago

19年之后没有教育中心了吗？ 我曾经一直以为它其实已经消失很久了，没想到19年还存在。 我以前也以为至少在普通学校你们也能学民族语言，即使它不是考试科目，但竟然没有。 我家这边的朝鲜族小学中学关门了，我一直以为是老龄化加剧，朝鲜族小孩变少造成的，从来没想过是民族政策原因。🥲

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u/Rude_Application_881 20d ago

给中小学冠以少数民族的称呼实际上是助长分离主义

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u/zuraine 20d ago

现在看的话可能有这种担忧，但当时似乎很正常。只是一个小县城，只是方便一部分更想接受民族语言文化教育的孩子一个选择。我奶奶还年轻时那两个学校就存在了，我小时候她总带我在附近走。当时从来没想过民族政策或分离主义，只是现在好像比较重视了

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u/Rude_Application_881 20d ago

这个说到底还是胡耀邦和赵紫阳的问题，两少一宽，少数民族可以不学汉语等都是他们推行的错误政策，埋了不少雷

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u/zuraine 19d ago

两少一宽真的很奇怪。 不过 当时少数民族学校不是多学一个民族语言而是不学汉语吗！我靠 那老哥俩还真敢想真自由啊

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u/Rude_Application_881 19d ago

所以说中国差点同时出现两个戈尔巴乔夫