Each year, China celebrates Police Day, honouring the forces that keep the country under control. While the occasion is meant to show unity and order, there’s a hidden truth behind it. Police Day isn’t just about celebrating law enforcement. It is in fact also a reminder of the system that fuels China’s economy, which is built on the exploitation and suffering of oppressed people.

Tibetans and Uyghurs, two of China’s most marginalised communities, are central to this system of control.

Monks in Tibet and Uyghur workers in Xinjiang are subjected to harsh, inhuman and often hidden forms of forced labour. This labour helps fuel China’s economic machine. But it’s rarely acknowledged. Instead, China’s booming exports and promises of prosperity hide the human suffering that powers them.

At the heart of China’s economy is forced labour which generates billions of dollars. Behind the scenes in China’s factories, mines, and farms, people, especially Uyghurs, are forced to work under terrible conditions. These workers are detained in “re-education camps,” where they are used as laborers for industries that contribute to China’s vast export network. These goods, many of which end up on shelves worldwide, come with a hidden cost. They are manufactured by people who are denied basic freedoms and dignity.

The list of products affected is long–from cotton textiles to electronics. Despite clear evidence of human rights violations, these products continue to flow into global markets and no questions are asked. The Chinese government, in an attempt to justify its actions, spins the narrative of “unity.” Official statements and media broadcasts emphasize the harmonious society the government is creating–all of it while ignoring the reality of the repression in places like Tibet and Xinjiang.

The CCP uses forced labour as a key tool to maintain its power at a time of generating profits while suppressing entire populations. The situation in Xinjiang is especially dire. Uyghurs, who are subjected to forced labour in factories and agricultural fields, have been stripped of their cultural, religious as well as their personal freedoms. Their labour, often hidden from public view, directly supports China’s economic expansion.

Another essential part of this repression is China’s massive surveillance network with facial recognition cameras, biometric data collection and other high-tech systems. China monitors its population more closely than ever before. These tools are promoted as being for public safety. These, however, are really about control. The government uses these technologies to track people, suppress dissent and make sure that no one challenges the party’s absolute grip on power.

In an even more troubling development, Chinese surveillance technology is being sold to other countries. As a matter of fact, Chinese companies have been expanding their presence globally, by exporting their surveillance tools to authoritarian governments around the world.

These technologies are often marketed as ways to increase security. The reality however is far different. They enable other governments to control their citizens just as China controls its own. It is in this manner that China’s repression extends beyond its borders and creates a global network of control and hegemony.

China’s rapid economic growth and tech advancements might make it seem like a strong country on the rise. But, really, this success is built on the backs of people who are silenced, oppressed and taken advantage of daily.

The reality is that the apparent economic success hides a grim social truth–millions are being used to power China’s economic goals.

The world can’t keep turning a blind eye to the exploitation happening inside China. Attention needs to be paid to the fact that the forced labour in places such as Xinjiang and Tibet isn’t just a domestic issue for China. It’s part of the global economy and the products the world buys, the electronics that it uses and the clothes that it wears are all linked to human suffering. The economic rise of China is not as clean and efficient as it’s made to seem.

The time has come for the world to confront these uncomfortable realities. It must hold China accountable for its human rights abuses by demanding transparency in global supply chains by shedding indifference.

Governments and global companies need to stop ignoring where their goods come from and take a stand against forced labour.

At the heart of China’s economic boom is a system of control and oppression and the celebration of Police Day is just one example of how China hides this system from the public view. The forced labour camps, the surveillance as well as the exploitation of marginalised groups are all part of a broader strategy to maintain power and control.

China needs to be accountable for the human cost of its rise to power. It is only through such measures that the world can hope to dismantle the global repression network that sustains China’s economic success.

© Eurasia Review