Blanked-out spots on China's maps helped us uncover Xinjiang's camps

Re:Blanked-out spots on China's maps helped us uncover Xinji... by duxup on Thursday August 27, 2020 @10:48AM (#24294202)

Do we feel like someone riding a bicycle through a region would necessarily discover something about such camps?

If I randomly traveled in any country would I know about these things? Would I know if I was "without government supervision"?

I'm not inclined to believe that any given rando foreigner would somehow provide a good view of what is going on locally.

I've traveled plenty, there's a ton I could not see / know.

I've actually seen this concept put forth a lot, especially when it comes to China that rando traveler didn't see something so we should doubt it (often put forth with stories about how little crime there is). I don't really understand why anyone would think that makes sense... particularly with all the rest of the information we have on this topic.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Blanked-out spots on China's maps helped us uncover Xinji... by FooBarWidget on Thursday August 27, 2020 @12:37PM (#24295436)

Neither my point, nor his point, is "this guy didn't see it while cycling, so they don't exist". In fact, he has stated multiple times that he isn't denying existance of camps.

As for what his point is: you should read the full article, it's nuanced.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Blanked-out spots on China's maps helped us uncover Xinji... by duxup on Thursday August 27, 2020 @12:46PM (#24295555)

I'm less concerned with the article than this strange idea that someone on a bike not seeing a thing ... means something relative to all the other information we have.

[ Parent | on HN ]