[xtian]

The US considered ETIM a terrorist organization before they became useful got reframed as freedom fighters: https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/p...

[zepto]

So they didn’t bomb ‘Uighurs’ because they are Uighurs. They classified a particular organization as terrorists.

I.e. this is a false equivalence with what China is accused of.

[xtian]

The US removed this organization’s terrorist designation and is now promoting them as the voice of the oppressed Uyhgur people. I’m not trying to draw any equivalence.

[zepto]

They did the same with the IRA in Northern Ireland. That’s what happens in geopolitics. Relationships change.

What does it have to do with what is happening in Xinjiang?

[sudosysgen]

Please, let's not equate the IRA with international islamiste terrorists operating in multiple countries and associated with Al Qaeda.

The argument is that the US changing its mind on terrorists just because they are Uyghurs after bombing them shows that there is foul play involved and that the US government does not act in good faith on the matter, but instead is weaponizing the Xinjiang issue for geopolitical gain and distorting the truth to do so.

[Dah00n]

I'm not convinced. That sounds just like the reasoning China uses. "We are not targeting a people but a terror organisation".