{"id":227985,"date":"2021-02-18T20:54:08","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T04:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=227985"},"modified":"2021-02-21T10:31:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-21T18:31:18","slug":"cdt-weekly-february-12-18-ilham-tohti-xinjiang-and-why-clubhouse-had-to-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2021\/02\/cdt-weekly-february-12-18-ilham-tohti-xinjiang-and-why-clubhouse-had-to-die\/","title":{"rendered":"CDT Weekly, February 12-18: Ilham Tohti, Xinjiang, and Why Clubhouse Had to Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the second edition of CDT\u2019s weekly roundup, also available as an email newsletter through Substack<\/a><\/span>. With these updates, we aim to provide an overview of new content across CDT\u2019s English<\/a> and Chinese sites<\/a>, as well as the bilingual China Digital Space wiki<\/a>, and related content elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The highlight of our translation content this week was a long essay from 2009 by journalist and website founder Huang Zhangjin<\/a>, describing his friendship and discussions with Uyghur intellectual Ilham Tohti<\/a><\/strong> after the latter\u2019s detention in the wake of violent unrest in Urumqi in 2009. The essay was reposted on Matters last week following discussion of the ongoing mass detentions in Xinjiang on Clubhouse and Weibo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some of the views attributed to Ilham in Huang\u2019s paraphrased recollections may be unpalatable: he approvingly quotes Liu Xiaobo\u2019s views on the benefits of Western colonialism, and implicitly disparages the industriousness of people from other developing regions. But the essay clearly conveys Ilham\u2019s vision of an alternative path for Xinjiang within the People\u2019s Republic, far from the aggressive suppression that has intensified under Xi Jinping, or the alleged separatism for which Ilham was sentenced to life in prison in 2014<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ilham insisted that Uyghur\u2019s pursuit of equality and freedom must not be separated from Han people\u2019s advancement of freedom and democracy. The two must be closely integrated. The situation of the Uyghurs was a result of the lack of democracy and freedom in China as a whole. Uyghurs can gain freedom and democracy only if Han people can also achieve them. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

[\u2026] After the Sichuan Earthquake in 2008, I rushed back to Beijing. Ilham had been glued to the TV. With his stubborn optimism and his Uyghur perspective, he\u2019d often come up with things that I had overlooked. I remembered seeing him exclaim, with tears in his eyes, \u201cSichuan people are extraordinary. Compared to Westerners, Chinese people\u2014Han people\u2014you live under such lousy governance, as lowly as wild grass, as numb as animals. But just look at the Sichuan people after the earthquake, the sheer tenacity and perseverance. That\u2019s truly extraordinary, the exuberant vitality and staunch willpower. Are there any other people who could have done better than the Han people? Who can conquer them? You know why so many Uyghurs in Xinjiang are donating blood and supplies? They are so moved! Wow, such people ought not to, and will not, live like this forever. Alas, with a people like this, the country has hope.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ilham laments that \u201cthose Han people who shout about freedom and democracy don\u2019t care about us. [\u2026] Why is it that some Han intellectuals always suspect Uyghurs of engaging in ethnic separatism whenever we speak about ethnic equality?\u201d The essay also brings out some shades of disagreement between his own views and those of more sympathetic Han, particularly the writer Wang Lixiong, whose pessimistic outlook Ilham found disturbing. Wang famously commented following Ilham\u2019s prosecution<\/a> in 2014 that \u201cthe only conclusion is dark: it\u2019s that they don\u2019t want moderate Uighurs. Because if you have moderate Uighurs, then why aren\u2019t you talking to them? So they wanted to get rid of him and then you can say to the West that there are no moderates and we\u2019re fighting terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another translation since our last newsletter was a deleted WeChat post on the blocking of audio-based chatroom app Clubhouse, discussed in last week\u2019s newsletter<\/a>, titled \u201cWhy Did Clubhouse Have to Die?<\/a><\/strong>\u201d Author \u201cZi Ge\u201d praised the platform\u2019s empathy-promoting focus on direct spoken communication, and its \u201charmonious and rational atmosphere for dialogue,\u201d but argued that these very qualities are what made it intolerable to the authorities: \u201cBecause in the eyes of the relevant department, rationality means the beginning of reflection, and freedom and loss of control are synonymous. These facts both carry enormous potential energy, posing a grave threat to stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zi Ge anticipated the arrival of \u201ccastrated\u201d homegrown Clubhouse clones monitored automatically for sensitive words in real time. The underlying audio technology for Clubhouse itself, they noted, is provided by another company, Agora, based in Shanghai. A team at the Stanford Internet Observatory examined that connection\u2019s technical and legal implications<\/a>, having \u201cdetermined that a user\u2019s unique Clubhouse ID number and chatroom ID are transmitted in plaintext, and Agora would likely have access to users\u2019 raw audio, potentially providing access to the Chinese government. In at least one instance, SIO observed room metadata being relayed to servers we believe to be hosted in the PRC, and audio to servers managed by Chinese entities [\u2026].\u201d SIO\u2019s Alex Stamos, previously Chief Security Officer at Facebook, commented on Twitter:<\/p>\n

\n

We found Chinese servers being used even for conversations that only involved Americans. <\/p>\n

At this time, I can't recommend that individuals who might find themselves adverse to the security services of the PRC to use Clubhouse for sensitive conversations. pic.twitter.com\/a7Q1EGUOY9<\/a><\/p>\n

— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) February 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n