Tag: Xinjiang

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Understanding China’s policy of forced labour in Xinjiang

While the international community is increasingly recognising the severe abuses perpetrated against the vulnerable Uyghur population, existing legal frameworks are inadequate due to the intricate nature of manufacturing processes and the lack of transparency surrounding them….reports Asian Lite News

Over the last ten years, the global community and media have persistently highlighted the extensive atrocities inflicted by China upon its minority groups, particularly the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province. The Uyghurs represent approximately 45 per cent of the region’s demographic and have endured various forms of oppression, including mass detainment and indoctrination through what are termed ‘vocational education and training centres’.

This has been accompanied by pervasive surveillance technologies, enforced sterilization, and systematic sexual abuse. In August 2022, Michelle Bachelet, the then UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, released a significant report indicating that China’s treatment of the Uyghurs might amount to “crimes against humanity”.

China’s rollout of 5G technology will be used to further monitor and control Uyghurs

The report detailed large-scale arbitrary detentions, torture methods such as forced starvation and coerced medical procedures, alongside evidence of forced labour.

The so-called ‘re-education camps,’ which have also been referred to as ‘internment camps’ or ‘concentration camps’ by various observers, first emerged in 2014 and saw substantial expansion in 2017. According to the Chinese government’s narrative, these actions are framed as necessary measures to combat terrorism, extremism, and separatism.

In 2019, claims made by the governor of Xinjiang suggested that many individuals had ‘graduated’ from these centres, leading to perceptions that numerous facilities had been shut down.

However, in 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute revealed that this closure was merely a façade for a shift towards utilising the formal prison system for detaining those deemed a ‘threat’ to state security, evidenced by a marked increase in prosecutions and convictions of Uyghurs.

Furthermore, to evade international scrutiny, China has been employing deceptive strategies to suppress its Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. One such tactic involves presenting forced labour as a labour transfer initiative aimed at employment generation, industrial development, and poverty alleviation.

Adrian Zenz, a prominent researcher on China’s policies in Xinjiang, examined the work practices of Uyghur Muslims in 2023 and uncovered that the labour-transfer programme involved the forced relocation of Uyghur Muslims to state-assigned jobs far from their home regions.

Unsurprisingly, these workers are threatened with prosecution or imprisonment should they attempt to leave their employment. Zenz asserted that this labour-transfer initiative is utilised in the production of various goods, including cotton, tomatoes and tomato products, peppers and seasonal agricultural items, seafood, polysilicon for solar panels, lithium for electric vehicle batteries, and aluminium for batteries, vehicle bodies, and wheels.

Another method through which China compels Uyghur Muslims into involuntary labour is via the prison system. As previously noted, recent years have seen alarming rates of Uyghur prosecutions. For example, Human Rights Watch reported that approximately half a million individuals in Xinjiang were prosecuted between 2017 and 2022.

Ughurs in Chinese detention camps. (Image Courtesy: @ETAwakening/Twitter)

Similarly, a leading media outlet disclosed that one county in Xinjiang recorded that one in every 25 residents was convicted on terrorism-related charges, all of whom were Uyghurs.

The accusations brought against Uyghurs by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) can range from serious charges like terrorism to trivial ones such as ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble.’ Given that labour is a standard practice for inmates, Uyghur Muslim prisoners are exploited to support China’s industrial growth by working in agriculture, mining, and the manufacturing of goods.

The troubling reports of forced labour in Xinjiang have prompted Western governments to implement legal restrictions on imports from the region.

In 2021, US President Joe Biden enacted the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act, requiring companies to prove that their imports are not produced through forced labour involving Uyghurs. Similarly, in April 2024, the European Parliament approved legislation set to take effect in 2027 that will screen imports linked to forced labour.

Notably, by the end of the first four months of this year, the EU had already imported goods valued at $641 million from Xinjiang. According to a 2022 study, polysilicon produced in Xinjiang, essential for solar panels, accounted for approximately 95 per cent of photovoltaic energy in the world’s top 30 solar power-producing nations.

The same research indicated that Xinjiang was responsible for about 18 per cent of globally traded processed tomato products and that one in five garments worldwide contained cotton sourced from the province.

Companies face significant challenges in identifying products made with Uyghur forced labour due to China’s strategic obfuscation of these practices under various pretenses, including the so-called labour transfer scheme.

We expect India to intervene to stop the genocide: Uyghur leader

Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch published a report condemning major global automotive manufacturers, including General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Tesla, for failing to adhere to responsible sourcing standards regarding aluminium linked to Uyghur forced labour in Xinjiang.

Recently, China has established itself as a leading producer and exporter of automobiles, with Xinjiang emerging as an industrial centre that experienced a dramatic increase in aluminium production, rising from one million tonnes in 2010 to six million tonnes in 2022.

Approximately 9 per cent of the global aluminium supply is sourced from Xinjiang, and since much of this aluminium is blended with other metals to create finished products, it becomes exceedingly difficult to ascertain the extent to which forced labour contributes to these goods.

While the international community is increasingly recognising the severe abuses perpetrated by China against the vulnerable Uyghur population, existing legal frameworks are inadequate due to the intricate nature of manufacturing processes and the lack of transparency surrounding them. Consequently, persistent pressure must be exerted on China to urge a change in its practices and to halt the dehumanisation, persecution, and exploitation of Uyghur Muslims.

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Xinjiang military infra expansion sparks Uyghur concerns

Recent reports reveal ongoing construction and expansion of military infrastructure, such as barracks and training facilities….reports Asian Lite News

China has been intensifying its military presence in Xinjiang as part of its efforts to assert authority over the region, said Uyghur leader, adding that the Chinese have already built over 360 military installations, including airbases and heliports.

Recent reports reveal ongoing construction and expansion of military infrastructure, such as barracks and training facilities.

Geopolitical analyses from entities like the United States Department of Defence and global think tanks underscore these developments, viewing them within China’s larger strategy.

Foreign Affairs and Security Minister of East Turkistan Government in Exile and the Uyghur leader, Salih Hudayar stated in a post on X, “The Chinese invaders have built over 360 military installations, including airbases and heliports, across occupied East Turkistan, not even counting China’s PAP and XPCC bases. This overwhelming military presence isn’t a demonstration of power–it’s a glaring admission of fear.”

East Turkistan loosely includes the area designated as the “Xinjiang” Uyghur Autonomous Region.

On September 14, 2004, the East Turkistan Government in Exile was established in Washington, DC. This declaration was made by members of the worldwide East Turkistani community, led by Anwar Yusuf Turani.

In his post, Salih further stated, “Beijing’s desperate attempts to maintain its occupation reveal deep anxiety about losing their grip on East Turkistan, the Achilles’ heel of their empire. The massive military, paramilitary, and police presence, along with their ongoing campaign to annihilate the East Turkistani people, expose China’s profound vulnerability and fear of resistance.”

The situation in Xinjiang has been marked by significant geopolitical tensions and human rights concerns. The region is home to the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups, who have faced increasing scrutiny and repression from the Chinese government in recent years.

In recent decades, the Chinese government has implemented policies aimed at assimilating and controlling the Uyghur population in Xinjiang.

These policies include strict surveillance measures, cultural and religious repression, forced labour programs and mass internment camps euphemistically termed “re-education centres.”

The Chinese authorities, on the other hand, justify these actions as necessary for countering terrorism and maintaining stability in the region.

The international community, including human rights organisations and several Western governments, has condemned China’s policies in Xinjiang.

Reports of human rights abuses, including forced labour, arbitrary detention, and cultural suppression, have drawn widespread criticism and calls for accountability. (ANI)

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China’s Xinjiang tourism push amid human rights concerns

Beijing has been for years now, denying Western allegations of human-rights violations in Xinjiang, with China portraying the region as infected by a violent strain of religious extremism…reports Asian Lite News

China’s Xinjiang region, which has been under the scanner for violating human rights, has now been shown as a far more idyllic view of the region as instructed and funded by Xi Jinping government to promote it as a tourist destination through a television drama, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the United States, China’s far western Xinjiang region is often associated with detention camps and a wide network of security checkpoints to control Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities.

However, Beijing has been for years now, denying Western allegations of human-rights violations in Xinjiang, with China portraying the region as infected by a violent strain of religious extremism that needs to be eradicated.

“To the Wonder,” the television drama depicting Xinjiang as a land of beauty and wide-open steppes rather than a dangerous backwater inhabited by potential terrorists, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Meanwhile, now, China’s propaganda system is promoting a far more idyllic view of the region at least for a domestic audience, as reported by Wall Street Journal.

Recently, a Chinese television drama, “To the Wonder,” about the love between a Han Chinese writer and a Kazakh man, has grabbed the country’s attention, dominating social media and sparking a Xinjiang tourism boom.

The show “To the Wonder” is part of a ramped-up effort to showcase Xinjiang as a beautiful land instead of a dangerous land occupied with potential terrorists.

Moreover, their strategy has proven successful, especially among young, urban Chinese looking for escape from their hectic lives, reported Wall Street Journal.

“To the Wonder” is one of the most popular drama series this year on the Chinese internet and the state broadcaster, attracting more than 100 million viewers online within a week of its release in early May.

The head of tourism in the small Xinjiang town of Altay, where the show is set, said that the bookings there have increased 370 percent since the show began.

The show has been funded by the state and heavily promoted by their official media, is based on a popular memoir published in 2010 by Li Juan, about her family’s hardships among Kazakh nomads in northern Xinjiang.

The director, Teng Congcong, is known for work with a focus on women and she told the local media that she saw potential in Li’s book for another female portrait, Wall Street Journal reported.

Li was born in a Xinjiang paramilitary compound in 1979, when Beijing sent young Han Chinese to help develop the remote area. She spent most of her childhood in Altay.

Last year, the National Radio and Television Administration selected the show for state funding.

Notably, one of the criteria was that projects must “tell the China story well.”

The show, co-produced by the state broadcaster and video platform iQiyi, also highlighted a new business model for Chinese authorities, with local officials tapping into the popularity of dramas filmed in their regions to promote tourism.

The radio and television administration further encouraged platforms to use algorithms to promote the shows, stating, “Positive energy should generate massive traffic”.

However, the promotion has mostly targeted young Chinese, but the show was included in the Canneseries, an international television festival held annually in Cannes, France, and is also airing in Kazakhstan this month.

The Xinjiang official account on X, promoted the show in English-language tweets, saying it represents the “freedom, grandeur and beauty of northern Xinjiang.”

Human-rights concerns in Xinjiang, covering the one-sixth of China’s land territory, have been one of the focal points of US-China tensions, reported Wall street journal.

The Chinese government has been targetting Uyghurs and other minorities with mass detention and omnipresent surveillance as part of a campaign of forcible assimilation, which has also encouraged marriages between Han Chinese and minority members.

Additionally, some governments, rights groups and researchers have also alleged that the Chinese authorities are employing forced labor in Xinjiang as part of the campaign.

The US law bans imports linked to the region and their lawmakers label Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs as a form of “genocide”.

China’s government, however, has portrayed the assimilation campaign as an effort to fight religious extremism and terrorism.

According to the officials, the efforts to relocate rural residents to factories help improve their income and living standards, Wall street Journal reported.

Daria Impiombato, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a Canberra-backed think tank, said that the authorities are trying to sell a more “docile and lovable” image of China’s frontier regions.

Impiombato also co-wrote a report on how Chinese authorities have begun to enlist women as “frontier influencers” in propaganda efforts around troubled regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet, wall Street Journal reported.

Xinjiang’s propaganda department has planned to spend 308 million yuan, or roughly USD 43 million, on culture tourism and communications and media this year, which is more than 60 per cent of its total budgeted spending and 27 per cent more than it spent on such items in 2020.

The boosting tourism helps the Chinese government bring Xinjiang into the mainstream, making it just like any other place in China, Impiombato said.

Traditionally, minorities have been depicted in official Chinese media as either living in backward conditions or glorifying how much better their lives have become under the Communist Party leadership.

“To the Wonder” is a more nuanced portrayal. It shows the everyday struggles of the herders and their love of nature and their livestock.

In one of the scenes, with little cash on hand, a Kazakh family insists on paying a debt with a camel, as reported by Wall Street Journal.

However, a few scenes remind the audience of the reality of life in Xinjiang, such as when two Kazakh men have to hand over their pocket knives to use public transportation.

The Human Rights Watch released a report in February, stating that it found that Chinese authorities are coercing Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims away from their homes and into jobs in factories and warehouses around China.

Earlier in May, Thea Lee, the deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the US Labor Department said that the forced labourers are being transferred from Xinjiang to elsewhere in China in growing numbers. (ANI)

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Xi’s France Visit Met with Protest, Tibet, Xinjiang Rights in Focus

Activists advocating for Tibet and Xinjiang, regions where the United Nations has raised concerns about potential crimes against humanity, were also present on the streets of the capital….reports Asian Lite News

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in France, Paris on Sunday witnessed a display of activism as campaigners for Tibet and Xinjiang gathered to highlight concerns over human rights abuses in these regions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is on his first journey to Europe in half a decade, with the visit expected to revolve around Russia’s war in Ukraine and economic tensions between Beijing and Brussels. His itinerary commences in France, where he is scheduled to engage in discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday in Paris, before proceeding to the Pyrenees region, Al Jazeera reported.

Following his time in France, Xi will journey to Serbia and Hungary, nations that have preserved strong connections with Russia despite its extensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Chinese state media reported on Xi’s arrival in Paris, depicting streets adorned with both Chinese and French flags and groups of Chinese nationals welcoming their president. However, amidst the festive atmosphere, campaigners for Tibet and Xinjiang, where the United Nations has raised concerns about potential crimes against humanity, also took to the streets of the capital.

Activists advocating for Tibet and Xinjiang, regions where the United Nations has raised concerns about potential crimes against humanity, were also present on the streets of the capital.

The European Union’s imposition of targeted sanctions on certain Chinese officials and companies over the situation in Xinjiang in March 2021 elicited strong reactions from Beijing.

Human Rights Watch urged French President Macron to publicly address these issues during Xi’s visit to Paris, calling for the release of individuals arbitrarily detained, including Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist and recipient of the Sakharov Prize.

The organisation emphasised that Macron should also raise concerns about Tibet and Hong Kong, highlighting the repression faced by Tibetan children in boarding schools and the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong due to draconian security laws.

“President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,” Maya Wang, the acting China director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement. “France’s silence and inaction on human rights would only embolden the Chinese government’s sense of impunity for its abuses, further fuelling repression at home and abroad.”

In a meeting at the Elysee Palace on April 30, Macron was pictured with Penpa Tsering, the president of the Tibetan government-in-exile, who urged him not to forget Tibet. The agenda between the two presidents was expected to address various international crises, but advocates stressed the importance of including discussions on human rights issues.

“We understand that the agenda between the two presidents will be dense given the many international crises such as in Ukraine and in the Middle East, but this must not be done at the expense of exchanges on human rights, which are in a deplorable state throughout the country as well as in Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet, where a latent conflict has been going on for over 60 years and poses a threat to regional and international security,” Vincent Metten, the EU policy director for the International Campaign for Tibet said in a statement, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Freedom House’s 2024 report on Freedom in the World revealed Tibet’s dismal score of zero out of 100, indicating a severe decline in freedoms over the past eight years.

Maryse Artiguelong, the vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said: “The conflict in Ukraine highlights the threat posed to international order and security by authoritarian regimes such as Russia and the People’s Republic of China. Their aggressive foreign policies and repressive domestic policies are inextricably linked: Anyone who does not oppose China’s human rights violations risks one day facing its aggressive foreign policy.”

France has emphasized that the conflicts in Ukraine and other regions, including Beijing’s neutral stance on Ukraine but failure to condemn Moscow’s invasion, will be significant topics of discussion during the talks, Al Jazeera reported.

Macron, known for his assertive stance on European security, will urge Xi to exert influence on Russian President Putin regarding the situation in Ukraine.

To underscore European unity, von der Leyen will participate in Monday’s discussions, scheduled to commence shortly after 11 am (09:00 GMT). Besides the Ukraine conflict, Europe is troubled by Chinese commercial activities, prompting an inquiry into China’s subsidies for electric vehicle makers amid worries about unfair competition and adverse effects on European firms.

Prior to Xi’s departure last week, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Beijing was ready to “work with France and the EU to take this meeting as an opportunity to make the China-EU relations more strategic, stable, constructive and mutually beneficial, promote steady and sustained progress in China-EU relations, and contribute to the prosperity of both China and Europe and a peaceful world.”

Following his visit to France, Xi will travel to Serbia, arriving in Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese Embassy. He will engage in discussions with President Aleksandar Vucic. The bombing occurred during the NATO air campaign against Serb forces in Kosovo, resulting in three casualties and sparking outrage in China.

Despite not being an EU member, Serbia has attracted substantial investment from China, which is now its largest single source of investment. Ahead of the trip, Lin, the MOFA spokesperson, described the relationship between the two countries as “ironclad,” according to Al Jazeera.

“The bombing remains a significant topic for Chinese officials, who use it to support narratives that question the values of liberal democracies,” Stefan Vladisavljev, programme director at Foundation BFPE for a Responsible Society wrote in an online analysis, adding, “For Serbia, the visit presents an opportunity to strengthen its position as China’s main partner in the Western Balkans.”

Xi will proceed to Budapest on May 8, marking the conclusion of his Europe trip. There, he will hold talks with Hungarian President Viktor Orban, known for his close ties with Russia within the EU.

Hungary’s policies, which have drawn concern from other EU members, have seen the country aligning more closely with Beijing and Moscow. Recently, Hungary signed a security cooperation agreement with China permitting Chinese police officers to operate in areas with significant ethnic Chinese populations or popular Chinese tourist destinations. This move has sparked apprehension, particularly among exiles and dissidents elsewhere in Europe.

Additionally, Hungary is a member in China’s Belt and Road Initiative since 2015. Discussions between Xi and Orban are expected to cover topics such as the ongoing construction of a high-speed rail link between Budapest and Belgrade, Al Jazeera reported. (ANI)

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UN Concerned Over Forced Separation, Language Policies in Xinjiang

The UN experts were also informed of the exponential increase in the number of boarding schools for other Muslim and minority children in Xinjiang in recent years…reports Asian Lite News

The United Nations expressed concern over the allegations of a significant expansion of Xinjiang’s State-run boarding school system in China which fails to provide education in the children’s mother tongue and forcibly separates Uyghur and other minority Muslim children from their families and communities, leading to their forced assimilation, said an official press release from United Nations Human Rights.

“We are deeply concerned that boarding schools in Xinjiang are teaching almost exclusively in the official language with little or no use of Uyghur as medium of instruction and that the separation of mainly Uyghur and other minority children from their families could lead to their forced assimilation into the majority Mandarin language and the adoption of Han cultural practices,” the UN experts said, stressing the discriminatory nature of the policy and the violation of minorities’ right to education without discrimination, family life and cultural rights.

The release added that the experts received information about the large-scale removal of children, mainly Uyghur, from their families, including very young children whose parents are in exile or “interned”/detained. These children are treated as “orphans” by State authorities and placed in full-time boarding schools, pre-schools, or orphanages where the language used is almost exclusively Mandarin (Putonghua).

“Uyghur and other minority children in highly regulated and controlled boarding institutions may have little interaction with their parents, extended family or communities for much of their youth,” the experts said.

“This will inevitably lead to a loss of connection with their families and communities and undermine their ties to their cultural, religious and linguistic identities,” they said.

The release from the UN said that the Uyghur children placed in these boarding schools reportedly have little or no access to education in the Uyghur language and are under increasing pressure to speak and learn only Mandarin (Putonghua), as opposed to education aimed at achieving bilingualism in both Uyghur and Mandarin. Teachers can also be sanctioned for using the Uyghur language outside of specific language classes.

The UN experts were also informed of the exponential increase in the number of boarding schools for other Muslim and minority children in Xinjiang in recent years, and the closure of local schools where education through the medium of Uyghur and other minority languages could be provided. “The massive scale of the allegations raises extremely serious concerns of violations of basic human rights,” they said.

According to the release the United Nations experts have been in contact with the Chinese Government regarding these issues. (ANI)

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Chinese Uyhgurs asks to prosecute Xinjiang Governor in UK

China forcing marriages between majority Han Chinese and ethnic minority Uyghurs

WUC said that Xinjiang Governor Erkin Tuniyaz, was responsible for “severe human rights violations perpetrated against Uyghur people…writes Ashis Ray

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC), a London-based dissident group, have requested the British Attorney General for permission to arrest the Governor of the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang and prosecute him if he visits London next week.

In a statement, the WUC said that Xinjiang Governor Erkin Tuniyaz, was responsible for “severe human rights violations perpetrated against Uyghur people and other Turkic groups in the Northwest of China which amount to torture”.

This is a part of China’s “deradicalisation” policy against the Uyghurs, who are mostly Muslims.

“Evidence has been passed to the (London) Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes team, SO15, for the investigation, which may lead to the arrest of Tuniyaz,” it added.

China has been running a vast network of concentration camps in the Uyghur region for years.

A man, Erbakit Otarbay, described by the WUC as a survivor of a camp, is represented by Michael Polak, an award-winning human rights lawyer.

Polak was quoted by The Guardian as asserting: “Because the client is in the US and an alleged victim of torture, he’s entitled to bring a case against Tuniyaz.”

Tuniyaz will be visiting the London at the Rishi Sunak government’s invitation.

Political refugee groups from Xinjiang expressed shock at the UK Foreign Office’s decision to invite him. One of them called it “incomprehensible”.

A section of British MPs were equally outraged. They alleged Tuniyaz had played “a central role in the persecution of Uyghurs”.

Two years ago, the British Parliament declared the treatment of Uyghur Muslims as genocide.

In 2021, the UnS sanctioned Tuniyaz and more recently a group of UN special rapporteurs protested against the separation of 1 million Tibetan children from their families.

Earlier, it had branded the persecution of Uyghur Muslims as serious human rights violations.

Uyghur activists Rahima Mahmut and Rayhan Asat affirmed: “Engagement must have its limits. Meeting and greeting Chinese Communist party officials that have been accused of direct involvement in the implementation of genocidal policies, including mass forced sterilisations and concentration camps, must be a red line.”

The Foreign Office said: “We’ve agreed to meet him (Tuniyaz) at a senior official level, and intend to use the opportunity to press for change in China’s approach and to make requests on specific issues, including individual cases.”

Under Britain’s Universal Jurisdiction legislation, officials of foreign governments, other than heads of government, can potentially be prosecuted if they visit the UK.

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UN panel calls on China to probe Xinjiang rights violations

It asked Beijing to ensure that victims of human rights violations, including Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim communities, are provided with adequate and effective remedies and reparation…reports Asian Lite News

A UN committee has called on China to immediately probe all allegations of human rights violations in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), including those of torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence, forced labour, enforced disappearances and deaths in custody.

Acting under its early warning and urgent action procedure, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) also called on China to immediately release all individuals arbitrarily deprived of their liberty in the XUAR, whether in so-called Vocational Education and Training Centres (VETCs) or other detention facilities. In a statement, UN Human Rights Office said the Committee urged the State party to immediately cease all intimidation and reprisals against Uyghur and other ethnic Muslim communities, the diaspora and those who speak out in their defence, both domestically and abroad.

It asked Beijing to ensure that victims of human rights violations, including Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim communities, are provided with adequate and effective remedies and reparation.

According to OHCHR, the committee also recommended that China undertake a full review of its legal framework governing national security, counter-terrorism and minority rights in the XUAR to ensure its full compliance with its obligations as a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Furthermore, it urged the State party to effectively implement its 2018 recommendations, as well as the 2015 Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture, and the UN Human Rights Office’s assessment of human rights concerns in XUAR of August 2022.

“CERD’s early warning and urgent action procedure primarily aim to consider situations which might lead to conflicts in order to take appropriate preventive actions to avoid full-scale violations of human rights under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD),” Human Rights Office said.

A total of 182 States are party to ICERD. They are required to undergo regular reviews by the Committee of 18 independent international experts on how they are implementing the Convention.

In 2018, the Committee reviewed the periodic reports submitted by China and issued Concluding Observations in which it expressed a number of concerns, including about human rights violations of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in the XUAR. (ANI)

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China taps social media influencers to cover up right abuses

Under the increasingly authoritarian rule of Xi Jinping, the CCP’s oppression of ethnic minorities has worsened, with major crackdowns in Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia….reports Asian Lite News

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is using social media influencers from troubled regions like Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia to whitewash human rights abuses through an increasingly sophisticated propaganda campaign, a report has claimed.

The report published on Thursday by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), described the videos by “frontier influencers” as a growing part of Beijing’s “propaganda arsenal”, The Guardian reported.

Under the increasingly authoritarian rule of Xi Jinping, the CCP’s oppression of ethnic minorities has worsened, with major crackdowns in Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia.

Global condemnation has mounted, with a recent United Nations report finding there was a likelihood it was committing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.

The Chinese government has vociferously denied accusations it has detained an estimated 1 million people in re-education camps and suppressed religious and cultural activities, saying the policies are to counter extremism and alleviate poverty.

Traditional Chinese government propaganda is often unconvincing but in recent years the government has harnessed the popularity of social media influencers under orders from Xi Jinping to ‘tell China’s story well’, according to recent reports and analysts, The Guardian reported.

Thursday’s report examined what it suggested was a further evolution, using individuals from within the victimised communities to deny it was happening.

“The influencers’ less polished presentation has a more authentic feel that conveys a false sense of legitimacy and transparency about China’s frontier regions that party-state media struggle to achieve,” the report by the government-funded think-tank said, The Guardian reported.

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How China is ramping up surveillance in Xinjiang

The report by the outgoing UN rights chief contains victim accounts that substantiate mass arbitrary detention, torture, and other serious human rights violations and recommends world to take action to end the abuses….reports Asian Lite News

China recently launched thousands of 5G base stations throughout its Xinjiang region, raising concerns the technology will be for greater digital surveillance of Uyghurs rather than the state use of economic development, according to US government-funded news service.

China’s Information Technology Ministry last month announced the number of 5G base stations in use across China has exceeded 1.96 million.

“The high-quality industrial internet network covers over 300 cities in China, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional Chinese enterprises,” ministry official Wang Peng was quoted saying by state media outlet Xinhua.

With the aim to fully digitize its economy and society, Beijing’s build-out in Xinjiang is part of the expansion of the 5G tech for broadband cellular networks that started in 2019.

Xinjiang has the largest land area of all the provinces and autonomous regions in China with an area of 642,800 square kilometres, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported.

“The 5G network rollout across the entire region will augment an existing pervasive digitized system that monitors the movement of residents through surveillance drones, facial recognition cameras, mobile phone scans as part of China’s efforts to control the predominantly Muslim population,” RFA quoted experts as saying.

Josh Chin, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal, said, “It’s definitely an interesting development. I have to imagine it will only make surveillance that much more pervasive and efficient.” The rollout of 5G base stations across the vast, sparsely populated region is “overkill,” according to Geoffrey Cain, a U.S. journalist and China analyst.

“It’s very extreme, and it also strikes me as very suspicious,” he told RFA.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in her long-awaited report in August said the Chinese government has committed abuses that may amount to crimes against humanity targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in Xinjiang.

The report by the outgoing UN rights chief contains victim accounts that substantiate mass arbitrary detention, torture, and other serious human rights violations and recommends world to take action to end the abuses.

It outlined China’s crimes against humanity due to its “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims.

Adrian Zenz, in an interview with ANI, termed this bombshell report as ‘overall positive, very conservative and cautious in its approach’. Zenz is a Senior Fellow and Director in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Washington, DC.

“My assessment of the report is overall positive, it’s useful but of course, it’s not perfect at all and there are some shortcomings in it. The report is very conservative and cautious in its approach,” Zenz said. (ANI)

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China’s Xinjiang industrial plan is a threat to Uyghurs

China’s efforts to turn its far-western Xinjiang into a manufacturing powerhouse could force more Uyghurs to work against their will and make it harder to track whether the country’s exports are made with forced labour, according to a new report from a Washington, DC-based research group, th media reported.

The Centre for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), which studies global conflict and trans-national security issues, said China is establishing industrial parks, providing more financial assistance from state-owned enterprises, and connecting manufacturers within its borders as part of a long-term objective to bolster supply chains, RFA Uyghur reported.

“The Chinese government is undertaking a concerted drive to industrialize the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), which has led an increasing number of corporations to establish manufacturing operations there,” the report says.

“This centrally-controlled industrial policy is a key tool in the government’s efforts to forcibly assimilate Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples through the institution of a coerced labour regime,” RFA Uyghur reported.

The report, analyses publicly available data and case studies to detail the political nature of China’s industrial transfer in the Xinjiang, the patterns through which it takes place, and the scale at which abuses in the region are embedded within Chinese and global supply chains.

“Forced labour is a major component of these human rights abuses,” the report says.

“It occurs not only within extrajudicial detention centers and through the placement of detainees in factories but also through the threat of detention to pressure Uyghurs into jobs across XUAR and throughout China.

“Both state-owned and private corporations are significant perpetrators of human rights abuses, implementing coercive working conditions, indoctrination and mass surveillance.”

The main mechanism for the central government’s industrialisation drive in the XUAR is a program to pair Xinjiang counties and municipalities with wealthier provinces and municipalities on the east coast. The effort began 25 years ago and was expanded in 2010, the report says, RFA Uyghur reported.

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