The narrative of cultural destruction, especially in Xinjiang, has become a common theme for criticism, especially from academics. It focuses on the supposed desecration or destruction of culturally significant sites.
Full Medium story from SFY
Guardian hit piece: Revealed - new evidence of China's mission to raze the mosques of Xinjiang
Abstract:
“One year ago there was a rash of articles in the media with the same claim — that China had been on a massive, targeted campaign to destroy mosques in Xinjiang. The evidence? Google Earth satellite images, supplemented with the active imaginations of some dilettante ‘experts’ on Twitter.
Many of these claims were later walked back to “partial demolition”. In the case of Keriya Aitika Mosque, Shawn Zhang clarified weeks later that this “mosque” was actually a recently built gatehouse that had been removed, and that the 800 year old mosque itself was intact (and much larger than the image he showed). Of course, the mosque-demolition narrative had already taken on a life of its own as major news outlets began to pick up on the story, many of which disregarded Shawn’s own admission that he was mistaken.”