On Wednesday, CNN published an opinion piece by Nury Turkel, "I was born in a Chinese 'reeducation camp.' I'm watching history repeat itself." The editor's note describes him as " a senior fellow at Hudson Institute, vice chair at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and fellow of the Renew Democracy Initiative's Frontlines of Freedom project." But, there's another editor's note, at the bottom of the piece, and it's one that provides lip service to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
CNN editors, who have 0 hesitation about publishing trash allegations against anyone they perceive as not leftwing enough, took an article by a Uyghur-American advocate exposing China's ongoing genocide & added an "Editor's Note" pushing CCP propaganda. https://t.co/6LyByQRmeX pic.twitter.com/7RWXoFJ7vA
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 10, 2021
The note, as highlighted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Twitter, reads that "The Chinese government has repeatedly denied any allegations of crimes -- including forced labor and forced sterilization -- against the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples. It claims it is providing the Uyghurs with education at "vocational training centers" while assisting in deradicalization efforts to combat alleged terrorism."
That link leads to CNN's interactive reporting by Ivan Watson and Ben Wescott, "Watched, judged, detained," with the subheadline explaining that "Leaked Chinese government records reveal detailed surveillance reports on Uyghur families and Beijing's justification for mass detentions."
By that logic, then shouldn't CNN's own reporting discredit this claim from the CCP?
Regardless, it's disturbing either way that an American outlet would find it appropriate to capitulate to the CCP in any way.
Turkel's piece is a sobering but a nevertheless worthwhile read, and not one that deserves a "both sides" kind of perspective so as to include claims from the CCP.
In fact, this editor's note serves to even try to discredit Turkel's writing then, in a piece they willingly published. That note is particularly at odds with these excerpts:
Now, some half a century later, China is targeting the Uyghur population with a new fervor. According to the US Department of Defense, China has detained possibly as many as 3 million Uyghurs in detention camps. Meanwhile, based on satellite imagery, CNN reports China has been destroying traditional Uyghur cemeteries. And, according to the accounts of several Uyghur women, it is incorporating an extensive forced sterilization program.
...
Having experienced the reality of living under this regime, and now watching with horror as these atrocities are visited on my Uyghur brothers and sisters, it's difficult for me to comprehend how any Western actor could push for greater dialogue or engagement with such a regime.
How cheap are the lives of my people to the international community if it ignores reports of the Chinese government's attempt to commit genocide against the Uyghurs? Democracies and nongovernmental organizations alike must do significantly more to support the Uyghur struggle -- even if it comes with an inevitable backlash from the Chinese government.
Here's how the piece ends, right before the editor's note appears, like a slap in the face:
Both Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's administrations have labeled China's actions toward the Uyghurs as a genocide, and the Canadian, British, Dutch and Lithuanian Parliaments have concurred. State signatories to the United Nations Genocide Convention are obliged to take action to halt genocide when it occurs and punish the perpetrators. Yet so much more remains to be done to address the continuing horrors of Xinjiang.
This cuts to the legal and moral core of the liberal international order. The dual strategy of import bans and domestic investment may not be a panacea, but it is undoubtedly a meaningful step in the right direction. After watching a lifetime of abuse by the Chinese regime, such actions give me at least a glimmer of hope that Uyghur lives mean more to the international community than platitudes.
Sadly, this editor's note wasn't the only way in which the American Left has let the CCP take advantage of the United States, and, more importantly, the Uyghurs they target for genocide.
As Sen. Cruz also highlighted, Climate Czar John Kerry yet again dismissed these human rights abuses and acts of genocide being committed by China in the name of working with them to address climate change.
Shorter Kerry: “what’s a little slave labor between friends?” https://t.co/zJbGqrrYPR
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 11, 2021
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Kerry has been dismissive about forced labor and genocide.
As Matt reported in September, Kerry's response when asked in a Bloomberg interview about why the Biden administration is focusing on climate change rather than human rights, was that "life is always full of tough choices."
John Kerry on the Biden administration's lack of focus on the Uyghur genocide In China: "Life is always full of tough choices." pic.twitter.com/nANK9by1zh
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 22, 2021
And, as I reported in April, Kerry indicated while meeting with his Chinese counterparts that it's "very important" to "try to keep those other things away," meaning what's happening to Uyghurs, so as to focus on climate change.
In a column published this morning for Townhall, Will Coggin, the managing director of the American Security Institute, also further addresses Kerry's actions.
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