I looked at some of the videos released by China to combat the Uighur allegations and I must say that the propaganda department really is its own enemy. You basically have short (and obviously scripted) excerpts of Uighurs showing off their new houses, cars, restaurants whilst insulting Mike Pompeo. Every single one of them ends with something along the lines of I’m proud of my great country of China. Who comes up with this? Haven’t had this much cringe since I watched Kayne West insult Taylor Swift at the Grammys.
The correct approach would be something like this.
Don’t just focus on the big new houses and flashy cities. Show the alleys and less touristy stuff and organic interactions with the natives. You can tell that many of the guys in this video (a whole series of videos, actually) are indifferent or even camera shy, but that’s how people actually behave! The delicious food also serve as a good attention grabber so that people check them out.
The end game would be cultivating a Uighur Li Ziqi, but if the Chinese government try their hand at it it will fail for certain. They always try too hard and in the wrong direction.
