i am surprised at all the enthusiastic supporters of this thread but no one speaks up in my sri lanka thread.

'ya simon ur very brilliant aren't you?"

Yes thank you very much.

"In America there is only 1 language spoken"

That has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard today. It must be why the first thing I hear when calling any type of service number is "indistinguishable spanish words + uno"
But why don't you explain yourself a little bit, perhaps you're referring to something very specific and I don't know what you're talking about.

"people VOLUNTARILY gave up their language"

English is the mainstream language. That much you seem to agree. If an immigrant refuses to learn the mainstream language, the resulting communication barrier inevitably limits the opportunities of the said individual. By learning English, and using English, different degrees of English mastery can be achieved. Some minorities speak exclusively English at home. Others speak exclusively their mother tongue at home. While still more speak a mix of languages at home. Voluntarily? Possibly. To me, it is more the natural progression of things, social forces, simply due to amount of exposure per language.

The lingua franca in China is Mandarin. Inability to speak Mandarin limits one's opportunities. Nuff said?

When biotech companies in the US demand Spanish language skills for their workers, I'll learn it. Okay?

"some government comes in and tries to remove that language"

Wherever did you get that idea? The Uighurs interviewed on TV spoke, guess what, Uighur. If the Commies really did tried to 'eradicate' the language, Uighur would be like Manchurian by now, with only old people left to speak it. Afterall, they've had 60 years to "remove that language".

"Would you not be upset if Mexicans migrated in large numbers to the U.S. and tried to change the language taught in schools?"

Spanish is already taught in schools in Southern California. The most popular foreign language actually. If you're talking about the language of instruction, then yes, I would be upset. I would my rather be taught terms applicable in the rest of the United States, just like how kids in China are taught terms applicable in all of China.

Please it's not like China's sticking Uighers en-masse into concentration camps - generally they're treated like other Chinese citizens for better or worst.

It's hypocritical to ignore all the other major separatist movements in the world only to focus on the one in Xinjiang, China. What about the Basque separatists in Spain, the Kurds in Iraq, Turkey and Iran, Flanders separatists looking to split Belgium, Kashmiri who want their own homeland independent from India and the Lakotah and the (admittedly few) Hawaiian separatists who want out of the U.S.A?

Unless the Chinese are actively promoting genocide of the Uighrs what makes their separatists more special than all the others?