The Uyghur Genocide and the Prominence Effect
Photograph by Jack Fitzsimmons. CC BY-NC 2.0
By Anna Van Boven
This past week, Vox published an article titled China is committing genocide. The world has no plan to stop it. In the article, author Sigal Samuel describes China’s ongoing persecution of the Uyghur, an ethnic minority group concentrated in Xinjiang, China, and the world’s noncombative response to this genocide. It has been well established since 2017 that China has built internment camps for the Uyghur that are estimated to have detained more than one million citizens. There are irrefutable reports of forced labor, forced sterilization, religious suppression, rape, and torture coming out of these camps. While human rights activists and Uyghur survivors have spent the past five years publishing reports on the genocide, sharing Uyghur stories, and advocating for global action, the world governments and the UN have made relatively weak attempts to combat China’s treatment of the Uyghur. Just last year, the US passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which requires importers to ensure that all imported goods were produced without forced labor. This past August, the UN published a report assessing the human rights concerns of the Uyghur.
Why have governments and businesses around the globe done so little, even in the face of such overwhelming evidence of a cultural genocide? We can look to the different categories on this website to help us answer this question. The psychic numbing is implicit -- no person can fully comprehend the scale of this tragedy, and we are consequently unaffected by it. Corporations and individuals can easily succumb to pseudoinefficacy. Altering their supply chain to cut out Chinese suppliers, who provide cheap manufactured products and labor, would have a significant impact on a corporation’s business and very little impact on the actions of the Chinese government. Especially considering the inaction of larger entities, individual actions seem relatively ineffective.
The most pressing psychological effect that deters governments and corporations from taking action, however, is the prominence effect. When people make decisions, rather than analyze all the difficult trade-offs that come with the decision, people tend to choose the option that is optimal in a prominent attribute. In the case of the Uyghur genocide, governments choose not to stand against China because of the impacts that it would have on the economy and international businesses. As China expert Timothy Grose states in the aforementioned Vox article, “Now we’re seeing the limits of what liberal democracies want to do to stop violence, when the way to stop violence is to have it affect your own pocketbook.” It is estimated that over one million people have been detained and victimized by the Government of the People’s Republic of China. Rather than value the safety and well-being of these victims against the estimated economic impact, governments prioritize their own economic prosperity.
We must recognize the impact that these psychological effects have on us, and choose to act against them. The Vox article recommends steps that we can take to support the persecuted Uyghurs.
Government Actions:
The UN can suspend China from the UN Human Rights Council. In April, the UN voted to suspend Russia from the Council after the invasion of Ukraine.
A coalition of governments could impose sanctions on Chinese imports to motivate the Chinese government to better their treatment of the Uyghur.
The US Government can strictly enforce the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which will require businesses to take action that will negatively impact the Chinese economy.
Governments can expedite applications for Uyghur refugees to gain asylum. This action would have little impact on the economy, but would help many victims find their footing.
Corporate Actions:
Businesses can boycott Chinese suppliers.
US corporations can uphold the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act by ensuring that their supplies are not a result of forced labor, which will disincentivize the Chinese government from holding Uyghur workers in internment camps.
Individual Actions:
Individuals can donate either time or money to support local efforts to preserve Uyghur culture.
Individuals can read and share testimonials from Uyghur people who have been victimized by the Chinese government. Not only will sharing these stories raise awareness of the genocide, but reading them will strengthen an emotional connection with the issue, which will motivate people to take action.
As Timothy Grose states, “It's possible to stop China if we had coordinated efforts from governments and multinational corporations and individuals.” There is something to be done by everyone that will make a difference.
For more Uyghur stories coming from China, visit one of the following sources:
Stories from the Save Uighur Project of Justice For All
The Atlantic shares podcasts and articles featuring individual stories