The Chinese government is currently undertaking what it calls the “Belt and Road Initiative”—a staggering one trillion dollar infrastructure project which will ultimately connect China to Africa and Europe. (Many have called it the most ambitious road-building and transportation modernization project in human history, in terms of sheer scale.) For this project to succeed, the roads, bridges, and railways under construction will all have to pass through the heart of Xinjiang province. Whether or not it is the true cause of the despicable actions being taken against the Uighurs, the enormous one trillion dollar project may explain why many Muslim-majority countries close to China have been so silent during this ethnic cleansing campaign against 1 million of their sisters and brothers.

QUESTION: Is economic leverage the actual cause of muted international response, or are other factors at play?

QUESTION: Is the author's inference about Muslim-majority countries' silence justified, or are there other geopolitical factors at play worth investigating? XREF: Connects to geopolitical analysis of economic leverage shaping diplomatic responses to human rights abuses.

Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Gl…, loc. 169