The foreign press call them concentration camps, the Chinese Government call them vocational training institutions. Whatever the truth may be, the situation concerning the Uighur people in Xinjiang, China has entered Indonesia’s political discourse. On Friday (Dec. 21) last week, protests were staged in front of the Chinese Consulate in Medan and in front of the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta. The protests didn’t turn violent, but given that the people involved—Novel Bamukmin, Neno Warisman, Bachtiar Nasir—are members of the so-called 212 Alumni Group, we ought to discuss its significance.

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