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Think Tank and Researcher on Uighurs Condemn China for Lawsuit Threat Against
Them

Asim Kashgarian

   WASHINGTON - After China threatened to sue them for their research on
   the Uighur crackdown, a think tank and a scholar say they stand by
   their work on the human rights violations against the Muslim minority
   in China's northwest region of Xinjiang.

   The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and U.S.-based
   researcher Adrian Zenz have gained international attention in recent
   yearsfortheir investigative papers focusing on China's policies toward
   the Turkic-speaking minorities in Xinjiang.

   Beijing's Chinese Communist Party (CCP) now wants to take legal action
   against them for allegedly publishing "disinformation about China for
   libel."

   "Overall, I think our research has the CCP rattled," saidASPI executive
   directorPeter Jennings.

   Accusing Beijing of efforts to undermine free speech, Jennings said
   that ASPI reports on the region were based on verified sources coming
   from China.

   "In their own offensive way, they are doing their best to pressure ASPI
   and smear researchers around the world in an effort to stop shining a
   light into the behaviors of the Communist Party," Jennings told VOA.

   On Wednesday, China'sGlobal Timesreported abouttheChinese government's
   intention to sue ASPI and Zenz. A day later, Chinese government
   spokesperson ZhaoLijiantold reporters that he was not surprised about
   the possible lawsuit, claiming "Chinese and foreign media have exposed
   multiple times those behind Zenz and the ASPI."

   Zhao said he "advises" Zenz and ASPI to "come back to the right course
   as soon as possible, because too many vile deeds will inevitably lead
   to one's self-destruction."

   In recent years, both ASPI and Zenz have published several research
   papers on China's campaign, most notably on Uighurs who have been
   subjected to state surveillance, arbitrary detention, forced labor and
   birth control in Xinjiang where, according to United Nationestimates,
   more than1million Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities have been
   detained in internment camps.

   Forced labor

   Ina report published inFebruarytitled "Uyghurs for Sale,"ASPIsaidit
   found the Chinese government facilitating the mass transfer of over
   80,000 Uighurs from Xinjiang to work in factories across the country
   under conditions that strongly suggestedforced labor. The
   Uighurs,ASPIclaimed, included those previously held in detention camps
   and taken to factories thatwere in the supply chains of at least 83
   well-known global brands.

   The ASPI report was referenced in March by a group of U.S. lawmakers
   who introducedtheUyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.Lastweek, the
   U.S.departments of State, Treasury, Commerce and Homeland Security
   issued ajointbusiness advisory to caution businesses about the risks of
   supply-chain links to forced labor in Xinjiang and elsewhere in China.

   Zenz, a senior fellow of China studies at the Victims of Communism
   Memorial Foundation, told VOA that his latest article about mandatory
   sterilization of Uighur women in Xinjiang has triggered alarm bells
   andprompted aWashington Posteditorial thatcalledthe policies of China
   in Xinjiang "a demographic genocide" aimed at reducingtheUighur
   population.

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