12- 18 July 2021 Weekly Journal of Press US warns businesses over ’s province BBC/ 2021-07-14

The US has issued a tough new warning to companies about doing business in China’s Xinjiang province. American firms that still have supply chain and investment ties in the region were told they “could run a high riskof violating US law.” Washington cited evidence of have been detained at camps whe- genocide and other human re allegations of torture, forced labour and rights abuses in Xinjiang. sexual abuse have emerged alleged human rights abuses and surveillance in Xinjiang. China has denied previous allegations that the regi- Earlier this month, French authori- on’s Uyghur population has been subjected to human ties opened a “crimes against huma- rights abuses. nity” probe into four fashion brands. The Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory was pub- Uniqlo, Zara-owner Inditex and Fren- lished jointly by the State Department, Treasury, Com- ch textile firm SMCP deny the claims, merce, Homeland Security, Labor and the Office of the while Skechers declined to comment. US Trade Representative. The move came after complaints “Businesses and individuals that do not exit supply from the European Uyghur Institute chains, ventures, and/or investments connected to and other pressure groups that the Xinjiang could run a high risk of violating US law,” said retailers were profiting from the use the updated advisory, which was first released in July of forced labour. last year. The Xinjiang region produces 85% In a press statement, Secretary of State Antony Blin- of China’s cotton and accounts for ken said the document noted that the Chinese “go- about a fifth of global supplies. vernment is perpetrating genocide and crimes against Uyghurs have been detained at humanity in Xinjiang”. camps where allegations of torture, The announcement comes as Western governments forced labour and sexual abuse have harden their stance over companies operating in the emerged. China has denied these north-western region of China. claims saying the camps are “re-e- On Friday, the Biden administration added 14 Chinese ducation” facilities aimed at lifting firms and other entities to its economic blacklist over Uyghurs out of poverty. 1 Weekly Journal of Press 12- 18 July 2021

U.S. Senate passes bill to ban all products from China’s Xinjiang

Reuters, Michael Martina, 2021-07-15

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act would create a “rebuttable presumption” assuming goo- The U.S. Senate passed legis - ds manufactured in Xinjiang are made with forced lation on Wednesday to ban labor and therefore banned under the 1930 Tariff the import of products from Act, unless otherwise certified by U.S. authorities. China’s Xinjiang region, the Passed by unanimous consent, the bipartisan me- latest effort in Washington to asure would shift the burden of proof to importers. punish for what U.S. The current rule bans goods if there is reasonable officials say is an ongoing evidence of forced labor. genocide against Uyghurs The bill must also pass the House of Representa- and other tives before it can be sent to the White House for Muslim groups. President Joe Biden to sign into law. It was not im- mediately clear when that might take place. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who introduced the legislation with Democrat Jeff Merkley, called on the House to act quickly. “We will not turn a blind eye to the CCP’s ongoing crimes against humanity, and we will not allow corporations a free pass to profit from those horri- fic abuses,” Rubio said in a statement. “No American corporation should profit from these abuses. No American consumers should be inadvertently purchasing products from slave la- bor,” Merkley said. Democratic and Republican aides said they expe- cted the measure would get strong support in the House, noting the House approved a similar mea- on Xinjiang tomatoes, cotton and some sure nearly unanimously last year. solar products. The bill would go beyond steps already taken to The Biden administration has increased secure U.S. supply chains in the face of allegations sanctions, and on Tuesday issued an ad- of rights abuses in China, including existing bans visory warning businesses they could be 2 12- 18 July 2021 Weekly Journal of Press in violation of U.S. law if operations are lin- ked even indirectly to surveillance networks in Xinjiang. Rights groups, researchers, former residents and some Western lawmakers and officials say Xinjiang authorities have facilitated for- ced labor by detaining around a million Uy- ghurs and other primarily Muslim minorities since 2016.

Reporting by Michael Martina; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Leslie Adler

UK parliament unanimously votes for ‘diplomatic boycott’ of Beijing Olympics

Phayul Newsdesk, July 17, 2021

Nonbinding move shows growing concern over Xinjiang among Western legislators

DHARAMSHALA, July 17: The UK parlia- MP Tim Loughton tabled the motion last ment on Thursday unanimously backed the week urging PM Johnson to condemn human motion calling for a ‘diplomatic boycott’ of rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet. “How on the Beijing Winter Olympics to be held in earth does a genocidal, industrial-scale hu- Beijing in February. Although a non-binding man rights-abusing, free speech intolerant resolution, the motion stated that the inter- and planet vandalising regime square with national Games should not be entertained [Olympic] ideals?” asked Loughton befo- as China continues to commit mass atroci- re the voting began on Thursday. He added ties in occupied regions. that Britain should decline invitations for its

3 Weekly Journal of Press 12- 18 July 2021 representatives to attend the Olympi- cs next year unless the Chinese gover- nment “ends the atrocities”. The Chair of the All-Party Parliamen- tary Group for Tibet Loughton who is currently subject to Chinese sanctions said, “The awarding of the 2008 Oly- mpics to Beijing was accompanied by the International Olympics Committee promising that the Games would act as a catalyst for human rights reform UK parliament in session (Photo/Sky Sports) in China.” Labour MP Navendu Mishra also spoke about the 2008 protests du- torship. Sixty million people died as a result of our ring the Summer Olympics, “At the last failure when we appeased them and we are on the Olympics held in China in 2008, thou- same course today,” he further added. sands of Tibetans took to the streets to The European parliament earlier this month voted protest and were brutally suppressed, through a resolution with a large majority that cal- with hundreds killed. The full number led on the European Commission, European Council of deaths remains unknown.” and EU countries to “decline invitations to govern- Conservative former leader Sir Iain ment representatives and diplomats to attend the Duncan Smith, also one of the sancti- Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics unless the Chinese oned MPs, said allowing China to go Government demonstrates a verifiable improve- ahead with the Olympics next year ment in the human rights situation in Hong Kong, is similar to “appeasing Hitler”. “We the Xinjiang Uyghur Region, Tibet, Inner Mongolia have forgotten what happened when and elsewhere in China.” we appeased another ghastly dicta-

4 12- 18 July 2021 Weekly Journal of Press

Noted Uyghur Folklore Professor Serving Prison Term in China’s Xinjiang

RFA, 2021-07-13

Chinese authorities arres- ted Rahile Dawut in late 2017 during a purge of Uyghur intellectuals.

An internationally recognized expert in Uyghur folklore and et- hnographer who disappeared in Uyghur professor Rahile Dawut talks with a man in East China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autono- Turkistan in an undated photo. mous Region (XUAR) more than three years ago has been confir- believed to be arrested and detained in one of the many med as being imprisoned by aut- internment camps in a mass incarceration campaign la- horities, according to her former unched that year by Chinese authorities, who to date co-workers at . have not provided information on her whereabouts or the charges against her. Rahile Dawut, 55, created and di- Rahile was in fact detained along with other members rected the university’s Minorities of the Uyghur intellectual and cultural elite, sentenced, Folklore Research Center and wro- and is now in prison, RFA’s Uyghur Service discovered te dozens of articles in internatio- early this month through a series of interviews with nal journals and a number of bo- employees of Xinjiang University. oks, including studies on Islamic Rahile, one of many Uyghur intellectuals silenced by sacred sites in Central Asia, and Chinese authorities as part of a campaign to remove presented her work at conferences influential educators, disappeared suddenly from pub- around the world. lic life, along with Tashpolat Teyip, Arslan Abdulla, and An anthropologist by training, she other prominent professors at Xinijang University in the disappeared in December 2017, XUAR’s capital Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi).

5 Weekly Journal of Press 12- 18 July 2021 A female staffer in the administrative office certain they had detained her.” at Xinjiang University told RFA that Rahile China has held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs in a had been out of work for some time, and that network of detention camps since 2017, with authorities had notified the university that smaller numbers of Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, fel- she had been sentenced to prison. low Turkic-speaking people, also incarcera- “Yes, they notified us,” she said. ted in the system. Beijing says the camps are The staffer, who spoke on condition of anon- vocational training or re-education centers ymity due to the sensitivity of the case, also aimed at combating extremism in the XUAR. told RFA that the university issued an internal By late 2018, Akida received information that notice to the faculty about Rahile’s -senten her mother was being held in custody. Rea- cing at the end of 2020. lizing that her year of silence on the matter Another official surnamed Zhao from the uni- had been useless, Akida decided to go pub- versity’s Department of Propaganda confir- lic about the situation in late 2019 when she med that Rahile had been arrested but said published a website with information about he could not provide further information. her mother. “I learned through acquaintances that they ‘I could no longer be silent’ [Chinese authorities] had detained my mom, Akida Polat, Rahile’s daughter who is now she said. … In the process of looking for her based in the United States, told RFA that the I had read so many things about Uyghurs in last time they spoke in December 2017, her the news and began to sense that we were mother told her she was taking a very urgent facing a genocide. In summer 2019, I decided trip to Beijing for a conference. Akida has not I could no longer be silent and that I would been able to reach her since then. testify about my mother.” “The last time I spoke with my mom, talked The U.S. State Department, in a report to with her, was December 12, 2017,” she said. Congress on Monday, put China on a short “That day, my mom was in a rush and told list of countries including Myanmar, Ethiopia, me she was going to Beijing and she would Iraq, Syria, and South Sudan that are expe- call me back once she got to Beijing. Then she riencing atrocities and crimes against huma- disappeared without a trace.” nity, reiterating Washington’s six-month-old With detentions of Uyghurs widespread in determination of genocide in the XUAR. the XUAR at the time, Akida said she felt une- asy about her mother attending a conference but tried to console herself by telling herself that there must have been some kind of mi- sunderstanding. But that exchange was the last she heard from her mother. “News about them taking Uyghurs into cam- ps had just started to come out at the time, so a week later, after I still hadn’t been able to find any trace of my mom, I got a bit suspi- cious and wondered whether they had taken Uyghur professor Rakhile Dawut in an her to a camp as well, but I decided to wait a undated photo. Credit: bit,” she said. “One month later, I still hadn’t Akida Polat/freemymom.org gotten any news about my mom, and so I felt 6 12- 18 July 2021 Weekly Journal of Press “Secretary (Antony) Blinken affirmed in Janu- Some reports on social media have sugges- ary 2021 that the People’s Republic of China ted that Rahile has serious health problems is committing genocide and crimes against due to torture or psychological strain she has humanity against Uyghurs, who are predo- suffered in prison, and that authorities are minantly Muslim, and members of other eth- keeping her case under wraps for this reason. nic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang. The lack of information about Rahile from The crimes against humanity include impri- Chinese authorities has raised the visibility of sonment, torture, enforced sterilization, and her case among members of the internatio- persecution,” the Elie Wiesel Genocide and nal community. Following her disappearan- Atrocities Prevention Act report stated. ce, scholarly societies issued letters and sta- Akida told RFA that her anger about her mo- tements about her, and she received several ther’s imprisonment at the hands of the Chi- international academic awards in absentia. nese government serves as motivation for The Open Society University Network named her advocacy. her an honorary professor in the humani- “I was so angry when I heard the news about ties in December 2020, and New York-based my mother, but the anger made me even Scholars at Risk, an international network of stronger. I will never stop [fighting for] my institutions and individuals whose mission is mother’s cause, and I will continue it even to protect scholars and promote academic stronger,” she said. freedom, awarded her the Courage to Think In January this year, Akida began working Award in November 2020. Both groups have for the U.S.-based Campaign for Uyghurs, issued statements to the Chinese government a nonprofit organization that advocates for asking for information about Rahile and cal- the democratic rights and freedoms of Uyg- ling for her immediately release to no effect. hurs in the XUAR and elsewhere, to further her mother’s cause. Rahile likely was arrested because of her re- search into mazars (shrines) and the manner Rahile’s disappearance had been reported in which she dealt with local and autonomous by the international media, including The region-level authorities to resolve issues that New York Times, The Washington Post, and posed obstacles to her work, said a Xinjiang The Diplomat. Chinese authorities have yet University police officer who declined to give to provide any information to either Akida his name. or concerned members of the international community. The officer contacted by RFA said he had -re ceived a special notice about Rahile’s sup- Keeping her case under wraps At several news conferences over the past two years, Chinese authorities have tried to rebut the testimony of some Uyghurs abroad by disclosing partial information about their missing family members. But they have ne- ver mentioned Rahile Dawut at the media events.

7 Weekly Journal of Press 12- 18 July 2021 posed “crime,” stating that the scholar had situation, who requested anonymity out of caused social “provocations,” between -far fear of reprisal, said that many people were mers and the government. The officer said he moved and encouraged by Rahile’s willing- didn’t remember the length of Rahile’s prison ness to use research as a way of raising issu- sentence. es that farmers themselves dared not discuss When asked where Rahile was serving her with the relevant authorities. sentence, he said, “They told us not to talk about this with other people and that we But even though her concerns impressed should be careful with what we heard.” some local officials, they raised suspicions in Mehriay Mamteli, an independent researcher others, which Mehriay believes formed the living in the U.S. and one of Rahile’s former basis of the accusations against Rahile. colleagues, said that authorities might have used the professor’s research into Uyghur sh- An attack on China’s plan rines as evidence for the charges. Though Rahile’s research into Uyghur shrines Although Rahile received national grants was not directly related to politics, its close and worked under the guidance of the well- relationship to the spiritual heritage and et- known ethnic Han researcher Zhong Jinwen hnic identity of the Uyghurs could be percei- at Beijing Normal University in the Chinese ved as an attack on China’s plan to eliminate capital, she still encountered obstacles when Uyghur ethnic identity, said Alimcan Inayet, a researching shrines in the XUAR’s Tarim Ba- Uyghur professor at Ege University in Turkey. sin because of long-standing restrictions and “As is known, our ethnic historical works and crackdowns on religious and cultural customs cultural heritage are very important in stren- throughout the Uyghur region, said Mehriay. gthening our ethnic consciousness and iden- “In the process of research, she encountered tity,” he told RFA. “The Chinese state is per- a lot of restrictions from the local govern- haps uneasy over this, or even afraid.” ments and offices responsible for managing religious matters wherever she went for her “The Chinese state, which has made the as- fieldwork,” she said, adding that Rahile pro- similation of the Uyghurs its goal, has long ceeded with her on-site research only after been attempting to weaken Uyghur ethnic receiving official permission. consciousness and Uyghur ethnic identity,” When Rahile explained the importance of her he said. “Things like banning books about research to officials at the local and autono- our ethnic history, demolishing ancient stru- mous region levels, she told them that restri- ctures, and destroying statues of important ctions on certain sites and customs were mis- guided, Mehriay said.

“For the Chinese government to put this wo- man in prison and punish her for things [the government] approved itself, a researcher it trained itself, and to call her perhaps a ‘re- actionary revolutionary’ or whatever excuse they have decided on, is a violation of China’s own laws,” Mehriay said. Another source claiming familiarity with the 8 12- 18 July 2021 Weekly Journal of Press historical Uyghur figures, among others, de- hundreds of years, and what their collective monstrate this very clearly.” memory is, and so our job is to fight for her Another source familiar with the situation release,” Ross said. said that by targeting the professor, Chinese authorities tried to create a climate of isola- Rachel Harris, an ethnomusicologist at SOAS tion, intimidation, and eventual alienation at the University of London whose research from Uyghur cultural heritage among Uyg- focuses on Uyghur music, has known Rahile hurs themselves. for more than 20 years. She told RFA she was impressed not only by Rahile’s academic cre- Lisa Ross, an American photographer and vi- dentials but also by her sincerity, humanity, sual artist currently based in the U.S., met Ra- and virtue. hile at a Uyghur studies conference in London “My hope is always that national govern- in 2004. They then collaborated on a photog- ments will come together as a group and raphic survey of Uyghur shrines and became make a strong statement about what’s going close friends. on,” Harris said. “I have put pressure on my Ross told RFA that she was saddened to hear own university to raise a case.” the confirmation of Rahile’s conviction, and that she now has a clearer idea of what must Reported by Shohret Hoshur and Gulcheh- be done to secure her release. ra Hoja for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated “Because of her work, many people will con- by the Uyghur Service. Written in English by tinue to know and remember what and who Roseanne Gerin. the Uyghur people always have been for

Former NBA player Royce White speaks out on in a TV interview

Famous basketball player Royce Wihte @Hi- ghway_30 In his post-game interview, he called on the international community to take action and save the tortured Uyghur Turks, who were unjustly imprisoned in the concentration camps of the CCP regime of China in East Turkistan.

9 Weekly Journal of Press 12- 18 July 2021

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