Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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China-sensitive Topics at US Universities Draw More Online Harassment

Lin Yang

   Last week, students at Brandeis University hosted an online discussion
   about China's controversial Xinjiang policies, hearing experts discuss
   the detention, abuse and political indoctrination of more than 1
   million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities.

   But as Uighur attorney and advocate Rayhan Asat appeared before the
   student group last Friday, her screen was taken over as hackers wrote
   "fake news" and "liar" on it.

   For some participants, the hacking was unwelcome but unsurprising.

   James Millward, a professor at Georgetown University and a prominent
   Xinjiang scholar, told VOA that the group had been warned about a
   potential interruption beforehand.

   He said some letters had been written to the Brandeis president, the
   faculty adviser of the student who organized the panel,and the Office
   of Diversity Equity and Inclusion to shut down the panel.

   "The letter said that it was damaging or disturbing to Chinese students
   to discuss issues going on in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region,"
   Millward said.

   Still, other experts said it fit with an increase in more organized
   harassment against topics on American campuses seen as objectionable by
   the Chinese government.

   Chinese Students and Scholars Association

   The Chinese Communist Party's crackdown on the Muslim minorities in
   Xinjiang has attracted intense scrutiny and polarized the international
   community. [1]At least 1 million Uighurs have been detained in a large
   network of recently constructed camps to undergo reeducation and
   political indoctrination.

   China rejects criticism of the camps, saying they are aimed at
   eliminating extremism and teaching job skills. China has also
   criticized scholars, advocates and others who speak out on the Xinjiang
   issue, and its overseas, Chinese Communist Party-supported citizen
   groups echo the government's criticism.

   VOA has confirmed that the template of the letter sent to Brandeis
   appears to be the same as one distributed by the school's Chinese
   Students and Scholars Association (CSSA).

   CSSAs are Beijing-supported overseas groups that provide support for
   visiting students and scholars, but also at times take up political
   issues on campuses. The Brandeis CSSA issued a statement on WeChat
   saying that the word "Cultural Genocide" was offensive, that the event
   was "a one-sided academic event targeting China" and that it would
   "make all Chinese students feel insecure."

   It then provided a template and [2]encouraged Chinese students to write
   to school management to cancel the event.

   Despite the letters, the event went forward as scheduled at 2 p.m. on
   November 13. But it quickly became apparent that something was
   happening when someone began playing the Chinese national anthem over
   one of the speakers. Then the graffiti appeared, targeting Asat.

     Over the past few years I've given dozens of seminars on this topic
     and this is the first time I've been disrupted this way. It's
     telling that the most offensive disruption was directed at a Uyghur
     (discussing internat'l law implications and her falsely incarcerated
     brother) [3]pic.twitter.com/WOXt4kdFVP
     -- James Millward ç±³è¯å¥ (@JimMillward) [4]November 15, 2020

   Asat, a Harvard-educated Uighur attorney, told VOA, "It was awful. I
   tried not to read. I didn't want that experience to affect me and
   define me."

   Apart from her legal career, Asat is the sister and main advocate for
   Ekpa Asat, a successful entrepreneur in Xinjiang who disappeared after
   attending a State Department leadership program in 2016. Rayhan Asat
   later learned her brother had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for
   inciting ethnic hatred and ethnic discrimination.

References

   1. https://www.chinafile.com/reporting-opinion/features/where-did-one-million-figure-detentions-xinjiangs-camps-come
   2. http://web.archive.org/web/20201115040730/https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VZPQ25OS0d95CztW3QL7Fw
   3. https://t.co/WOXt4kdFVP
   4. https://twitter.com/JimMillward/status/1327980018262286337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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