The word “dictator” does not capture the extraordinary evil perpetrated by the Chinese President, including the Uyghur Genocide
by Kok Bayraq
US president Joe Biden continues to call Xi Jinping a dictator. Although the word seems to upset the Chinese side, it should not fundamentally affect the bilateral relationship. This is because the word “dictator” does not fully express, and even hides to some extent, the inherent brutality of Xi Jinping.
Let’s take a brief look at the origins of the term “dictator.” It was not a negative term in its original use but rather the temporary or definitive administration of a country in a certain state of instability by a single ruler to which all powers were given. In this sense, dictatorship was popular as long as it did not lead to tragedy. For example, in different historical times, Julius Caesar and Turkish leader Mustafa Kamal Ataturk were popular dictators. From this perspective, calling Xi Jinping a dictator is a compliment.
Kazakhstan’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and Azerbaijan’s former president, Heydar Aliyev, were also called dictators, but even if they faced some criticism for imposing a dictatorship to their newly established countries, this did not create disgust for them in their societies. Equating Xi Jinping’s dictatorship with that of Nazarbayev is like saying that a sex offender has committed only a misdemeanor.
Dictators such as Saddam, Gaddafi, Kim Il Sung, and Fidel Castro were cursed because they did not step down throughout their lives, even though they established a state or ensured stability through dictatorship. They were dangerous, but their threat was to a certain group or to their own people; they did not pose a threat to humanity.
In addition to committing genocide against the Uyghurs in the occupied land of East Turkistan (Xinjiang to China) and depriving his own people (all 1.5 billion) of human rights, Xi Jinping threatens the world with his economic, political, technological, and military power. He uses his disgraceful regime as an example under the name of the multipolar world and is trying to spread it. Regime-made disasters, such as COVID-19, have caused the deaths of more than seven million people worldwide. China does not accept responsibility for the damage it has caused.
While dictator Slobodan Milosevic, who carried out the Bosnian genocide, shed rivers of blood, Xi Jinping “appears” not to have shed as much Uyghur blood. In reality, the same number of Uyghur bodies may not have been destroyed yet, but they are rotting in dungeons in numbers many times greater than that of Bosnians killed.
Xi Jinping can be more aptly compared to dictators such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, but only partially. While their purposes, slogans, and threats were clear, Xi’s are vague. For example, Hitler wanted to destroy the Jewish people, whom he considered an inferior race. Xi Jinping says that he will cure the Uyghurs of being Muslims, which he considers a mental illness. Stalin declared that prisoners were sent to camps as enemies of the system or the state, and he did not hide the fact that he punished them. Xi Jinping will not stop masquerading his Uyghur death camps as “vocational training schools.” Mao declared America to be imperialist and announced that he would destroy it if he would become powerful enough. Conversely, Xi Jinping has told Joe Biden that the planet is large enough for America and China and that they may thrive in the world together, all while he is doing everything he can to tear America from its position in every international institution. China stands against free world on all international fronts, from Kosovo to Ukraine and from Burma to Palestine. With such records, Xi Jinping with his cunning is worse than the worst dictators in history.
Xi Jinping’s actions in the Uyghur genocide surpass those of Nimrod, the most famous tyrant in human history and mythology. For example, although Nimrod killed boys born in his time to protect his throne, Xi Jinping imprisoned all Uyghur children, declaring them a dangerous generation according to their birth years without distinguishing between boys and girls. Nimrod did not intend to kill fetuses, but Xi Jinping destroyed babies in the womb with abortion surgery. He reduced the Uyghur population’s birth rate by more than 1 million in 2017 and 2018 through sterilization.
It should not be forgotten that no murderers in the world admit they are assassins, not because they are ashamed of it but because they are afraid of being punished. This is why Xi may feel proud of being called a dictator. He feels that his power and superiority have been accepted and that his guilt has been alleviated. We should consider the reaction of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman to the word “dictator” as a diplomatic courtesy and something mostly intended for the Western audiences.
Xi Jinping is not only a dictator, but also a murderer, bloodthirsty, scheming, and a disaster for humanity. Calling him a dictator is inspiring and encouraging Xi Jinping, such as if a woman victim only “reacted” to sexual abuse by calling the perpetrator a “bad man.”