子虛烏有的“強迫勞動”，揭穿澳大利亞研究所涉疆勞務輸出的謊言
https://www.guancha.cn/YangKunFei/2020_08_30_563325_s.shtml
楊鶤飛
四川大學國際關係學院副研究員
2020-08-30 08:54:56
導讀
今年5月初，在搜索國外文獻的時候，無意間發現澳大利亞戰略政策研究所的一篇研究報告《販賣維吾爾族勞工：疆外“再教育”、強迫勞動和監控》（Uyghurs for sale：'Re- education', forced labour and surveillance beyond Xinjiang），其中涉及中國新疆地方政府勞動力轉移與扶貧的問題。當時沒有意識到該標題中的“for sale”“forced labour”所充滿的惡意。後來7月中旬重啟論文寫作時，再次看到澳大利亞研究所的這篇報告，認真翻閱了幾頁之後，發現這篇報告的惡意滿滿。本人曾長期在新疆學習和調研，憑藉長期新疆研究經驗，幾乎可以肯定其報告中提及的很多作為論據的“事實”，非常值得懷疑。後來，一些美國媒體和政客大肆炒作該報告，並作為證據攻擊抹黑中國政府新疆政策與人權狀況，企圖立法制裁僱傭新疆籍少數民族的企業。一個超級大國若依此充滿事實性錯誤的政治攻擊性質報告，不僅僅會使已經很嚴峻的中美關係更加雪上加霜，更是實質上嚴重影響已經就業而被迫離職的新疆籍少數民族的就業權。強迫願意用自己雙手創造自己幸福生活的人們放棄他們的勞動權利，這才是對人權的真正踐踏與侵犯。從人類基本良知出發，筆者決定用事實和邏輯的力量揭穿澳大利亞戰略政策研究所的無恥讕言，故形成此文。
【文/楊鶤飛】
澳大利亞戰略政策研究所（簡稱ASPI），於2020年3月1日發布了一篇題為《販賣維吾爾族：疆外的“再教育”、強迫勞動和監控》的研究報告（以下簡稱“《ASPI報告》”）。《ASPI報告》宣稱，在2017年至2019年間，至少8萬多名維吾爾族被強迫轉移至內地工廠勞作，人身自由受到限制，勞動權益和宗教信仰得不到保障。同時聲稱，這是中國政府針對維吾爾族的“強迫勞動”（forced labour），是“再教育營”政策的延伸。從標題用詞來看，《ASPI報告》把新疆維吾爾族異地就業和農村富裕勞動力轉移污衊為“強迫勞動”，把提高新疆少數民族就業能力的“職業技能教育培訓中心”污衊為“再教育集中營”；從其內容上看，報告作者試圖用移花接木、斷章取義和歪曲事實等低劣手法，來論證一個站不住腳的結論。若其事實證據都是實事求是的，結論錯誤，我們可以認為其邏輯能力有限而非別有用心。然而他們歪曲事實方式來論證，我不得不懷疑其別有用心。既然別有用心，通過該報告被用作攻擊中國政府的證據材料來看，該研究機構和作者的目的只能解釋為惡意抹黑中國，只能是對中國政府的治疆政策進行全面的污名化。
來自葉城縣的維吾爾族新職工（左）在新疆富麗達纖維有限公司生產車間學習配液操作規程
為此，筆者特意查閱該研究所的資料，才發現該機構長期以攻擊中國抹黑中國為能事。心裡才明白，由這種具有明顯意識形態偏見的機構來親手炮製的、旨在抹黑中國的報告也就不足為奇了。原本抱著“蝨子多了不癢”“多他一個不多，少他一個不少”的心態，無意與其爭鋒。可想到其對千千萬萬貧困家庭的影響，尤其是，《ASPI報告》試圖用社會科學研究方法把謊言包裝成科學研究結論，以大量的“真實案例”“數據分析”來獲得其結論研究的合理性和科學性，矇騙普通人尚可，若試圖來矇騙我等受過社會科學訓練和高等教育的人，這是在侮辱我的智商。對此，我就是要和他們剛到底！徹底撕破其華麗包裝，看看其敗絮究竟如何；徹底揭破其抹黑中國的謊言本質，維護人間正義，以正視聽。
首先，整篇報告的正文逾兩萬字，有287條註釋和兩個附錄，似乎是一篇“旁徵博引”“論證嚴密”“文獻來源可靠”的規範的科學研究報告。然而，仔細“拜讀”後就會發現，這些所謂的“證據”，邏輯漏洞百出，經不起推敲。
《ASPI報告》標榜自己的科學研究性質，宣稱研究結論是由科學研究方法收集而來的大量證據支撐。根據《ASPI報告》的說法，其主要使用了案例研究方法，資料來源主要包括公開的中文文獻、衛星影像分析、學術研究成果和現場媒體報導。細讀可以發現，《ASPI報告》的確引用了大量的中文文獻，但這些引用都受到引用者主觀意圖的歪曲，缺乏準確性。所謂衛星影像分析，也不過是對伽師縣中等職業學校和浩緣朋製衣有限公司在疏勒的一間工廠建築結構的衛星圖像進行分析，因為看到了學校和工廠有保安亭和圍牆，就得出了“強迫勞動”的結論。所謂學術研究成果，除了輔助作者James Leibold自己的文章外，參考文獻中根本就看不到像樣的學術文章。所謂“現場媒體報導”，只不過是網絡上找來的幾張截圖而已。
具體而言，該報告在使用證據材料上有以下三個特徵：
一、偷換概念，惡意解讀，缺乏準確性
客觀的新聞報導可以作為分析論證的證據，但前提是不要斷章取義和蓄意曲解。《ASPI報告》有100多條註釋引用了中文媒體包括相當數量官方媒體的報導，但是，沒有一句是按照原話直接引用或者按照原文真實意思間接引用。幾乎全部是對相關報導斷章取義，蓄意曲解，尤其是利用中英文翻譯過程語言習慣差異進行刻意的篡改，以偷換概念的方式論證自己的結論。
例如，《ASPI報告》第三頁第二段聲稱，新疆維吾爾族勞動者受到“不間斷的監控”，其引用的證據是官方報導（原文註釋5）。而被引用的這篇文章卻是在介紹新疆尼勒克當地政府有組織地轉移農村勞動力到疆外就業的措施及其成效，其中有提到“對實現轉移就業的人員做好後期跟踪服務，幫助他們解決務工期間遇到的問題”。【1】中文語境中的“跟踪服務”原意是指“不間斷服務、貼身服務，強調服務到位”的意思，而《ASPI報告》將原報導文中“跟踪服務”卻曲解為“跟踪某人、監視某人”，即其所謂的“監控”。這種拙劣手法表明，作者是在有意利用中英文表達上的差異，惡意解讀，典型的偷換概念。
此外，《ASPI報告》多處提及中國政府“禁止參與宗教儀式”“禁止進行宗教活動”，但並沒有提供任何事實依據。以第六頁倒數第三段為例，當中提到“禁止進行宗教活動”，註明的出處依然是前述新疆尼勒克政府有關轉移就業的文章（註釋32）。而被引用文章的原意是引導外出務工人員遠離非法宗教活動、遠離極端主義思想。【2】同一篇文章也在第三頁被用來證明“禁止參與宗教儀式”（註釋５）。
再以第六頁倒數第三段為例，當中提到“每50名新疆勞工被分配一名政府人員進行看管，還有專職的安保人員對他們進行監視”，這一說法的依據是註釋33 。查看註釋33原文可以發現，該文是關於新疆自治區人社廳強化區內勞務協作和促進長期穩定就業的新聞報導。報導中有提到“按照50:1的原則，配備懂雙語、有管理能力的隨隊管理幹部”【3】。然而，《ASPI報告》的作者卻選擇性地剔除了“懂雙語、有管理能力”等字眼，並且把“管理幹部”篡改為“專職的安保人員”，然後說這些安保人員對維吾爾族工人進行“監視”。事實上，考慮到多數維族人漢語水平比較低、存在交流障礙的情況，相關單位為了在生活和日常溝通交流方面更好地服務新疆外出務工者，才配備了管理幹部。
第十三頁最後一段提到，“根據新疆自治區發改委的一份官方聲明，截至2018年末，'再教育營'中訓練出來的廉價勞動力已經成為新疆的重要驅動力”。報告標註的資料來源（註釋85）是新疆發改委官網上2018年12月5日的文章“自治區經濟結構穩中有活，發展良好”。然而，該引用文章的原話是“以職業技能教育培訓中心為載體，吸引了大量沿海內地企業來疆設廠，有利擴大了就業、促進了增收”【4】。
通過以上分析，可以發現，《ASPI報告》標註文獻出處或者資料來源，卻不按照原文或原意進行引用，而是以曲解等方式偷換概念。至於如何曲解或何種程度上編造性解讀，完全是以服務於“能夠證明其荒謬結論”，全然不顧學術引用規範要求。
二、主觀臆測，缺乏客觀性
實證研究強調運用外在的、客觀的、不為人的意識所左右的數據進行研究。然而，《ASPI報告》的作者並沒有遵循這一基本原則。作者在報告多處以對相關文章的主觀臆測作為證據支持自己觀點，例子不勝枚舉。
譬如，《ASPI報告》第三頁第二段和第四頁第三段都提到，“我們估計，在2017年至2019年間，超過80000維吾爾人通過勞動力轉移計劃被轉移至新疆以外的地方，並被分配到工廠裡”。為了強化這一估計的真實性，作者還言之鑿鑿，特別加上註釋（註釋18）並解釋說：“此處預測是基於從中國官方媒體和政府官方公告中收集的數據”。然而，令人奇怪的是，一向標榜引用註釋規範的報告作者，在此反而沒有具明其數據來源。這明顯是“此地無銀三百兩”的做法，只能讓人更加懷疑這一估計的可靠性。
第十頁第四段稱，“他們住在臨近工廠的樓裡，與漢族工人的居住區分開”。並以此為據，意在說明維族工人被隔離。然而，《ASPI報告》也沒有說明資料來源。雖然作者在這個說法後面加上了註釋（註釋58），但該註釋的目的並不是為了交代該說法的依據，而是在解釋國際勞工組織關於強迫勞動的兩個指標。
第十四頁第二段稱，“就不同的縣而言，被轉移到新疆以外地區的勞動力佔所有新疆轉移人員的10%-50%之間”。《ASPI報告》提供的關於這一說法的依據是中文網站的兩篇文章（註釋89和註釋90）。這兩篇文章的確有提到轉移就業人員的相關數字。【5】但問題是，這兩篇文章中提到的數字是否有何根據？《ASPI報告》作者依據此缺乏可靠性的數字進而推算出來的轉移勞動力的比例，又有多少合理性呢？作者對此沒有任何說明解釋。很明顯，這種推算同樣也只是作者的一種臆測。
為了坐實“購買”和“出售”維吾爾族勞動力的指控，《ASPI報告》除了從政治上尋找證據之外，還找來了經濟上的證據。第十五頁倒數第二段引用2018年新疆區政府的一個文件（註釋98），聲稱“出售”維族勞動者對於地方政府和中介公司來說是相當有利可圖的生意。的確，區政府有出台政策，對成功實現農村富餘勞動力有組織轉移就業的鄉鎮、村等基層組織、公共就業服務機構、勞務派遣機構等給予現金獎勵，但這只是推動政策有效執行的一種政策工具，這些獎勵是相對於付出的人力成本而言，簡直是不值一提。而僅僅因為有點現金獎勵，就稱之為“販賣”那是滑天下之大稽。因為有獎勵的事項太多了，按此邏輯都可以稱之為“販賣”。
當然，如果非要說這是“販賣勞動力”，也是有一定道理。從馬克思《資本論》的理論來看，確實是勞動力的“自由買賣”。資本家自由僱傭工人，就是在購買勞動力，工人自由出賣自己的勞動力。在資本主義世界裡，什麼都可以買賣，什麼都有價格。
把政府鼓勵就業和勞動力轉移的政策支持行為污衊為“做出售維族勞動力的生意”，純粹是主觀臆想。而且，《ASPI報告》沒有引用該文件中的一個重要規定，那就是“獎勵補助資金主要用於在勞務輸出過程中所發生的相關費用支出”。同時，這一政策文件是在2016年修訂並頒布的，不是《ASPI報告》所說的2018年。【6】
需要指出的是，在中國，中國政府是為人民服務的政府，對普通民眾負有責任，不像西方國家的政府根本不考慮貧困人口是否脫貧，是否有工作。中國政府要實現全國的人口脫貧，在邊疆貧困地區的脫貧攻堅關鍵在於促進就業。此外，中國當前而言，為龐大的農村富餘勞動力尋找就業機會並非一件容易的事情，國家政策鼓勵對農村富餘勞動力轉移就業項目的實施機構給予獎勵。這不是新疆自治區特有的政策，而是一項全國各地都有相應的獎勵政策；這不是針對維族勞動力轉移就業而實施的特殊政策，而是一項針對中國所有農村富餘勞動力轉移就業而實施的政策。可見，所謂“出售”維吾爾勞動力的經濟動機，完全是《ASPI報告》作者的臆測。
三、無中生有，缺乏真實性
《ASPI報告》第三頁第二段稱，“這些工廠遠離家鄉，通常情況下他們都住在隔離式的宿舍裡”。作者對這一說法提供了一個依據（註釋3）。該註釋提到兩篇文章，分別是《對口援疆，做到群眾心坎上》【7】和《和田外出務工人員在江西南昌高新企業就業縮影》【8】 。然而，這兩篇文章原文並沒有提及新疆籍員工的住宿情況。不僅如此，第二篇文章是對休息日新疆籍務工人員外出遊玩的報導。因此，這個報導非但不能證明新疆籍工人被隔離居住，反而說明報告中所謂的維族工人“被監控”“受強迫勞動”是不實之詞。
第四頁第四段稱，“這些維吾爾人很難拒絕或逃脫分配給他們的工作任務，因為這些工作任務與新疆境內外普遍存在的拘留和政治灌輸工具緊密相連”。而作者用來支持這種論斷的證據居然是中國國家人力資源和社會保障部官網上一篇關於新疆人社廳促進就業的文章（註釋19）。稍微有點常識的人都知道，官方網頁上的文章不可能出現把就業安排與拘禁聯繫在一起的說法。事實上，被引用的這篇文章中也未有提及任何政治灌輸或者拘留的信息，【9】《ASPI報告》的這種說法是無中生有的臆斷。
第四頁第五段直接引述一段據說是來自2019年新疆一個地方政府工作報告中的話，譯成英文後的意思是“對每一批受過培訓的（勞工），都給他們安排就業機會，把他們派遣出去。這些人需要接受徹底的思想教育，並一直勞作下去”。根據《ASPI報告》提供的出處（註釋23），我們找到了2019年新疆墨玉縣人民政府的工作報告，並核對了原文，發現英文翻譯與原文差異極大。原文是這麼說的：“以國家通用語言文字和就業技能培訓為重點，深入實施定單、定崗、定向培訓，增強勞動者就業能力，實現培訓儲備一批、崗位到達一批、轉移就業一批。加強就業服務管理，做好就業人員思想教育工作，做到穩得住、幹得好、能致富，努力實現城鄉富餘勞動力轉移就業16.84萬人次（其中疆外5400人，疆內跨區域7.7萬人，就近就地8.6萬人），勞務創收14.8億元。”【10】 很明顯，地方政府有關推動職業培訓和就業的工作計劃在《ASPI報告》中就變成了針對維吾爾族的“再教育”行為，根本不考慮這是職業能力提升培訓，是為了能夠成為現代工業需要的合格勞動力而進行的培訓。難道地方政府不應該發展職業培訓，不應該推動就業？！不過，在西方國家，他們是不會理解中國為人民服務的政府責任，因為西方國家的政府不需要對人民的就業負責。
第六頁倒數第三段稱，“許多新疆勞工在所謂的'軍事化管理'下過著惡劣的、與外界隔絕的生活。”《ASPI報告》得出這一結論的依據（註釋30）是兩篇不明身份的私人'百度貼吧'賬戶發布的招聘消息。第六頁倒數第二段還聲稱，“中國當局和工廠老闆通過物理上或電子上的'追踪'對維族勞工進行管理”。而其提供的用來支持這一論斷的媒體報導（註釋37）中根本沒有相關的信息。【11】很顯然，這是作者的杜撰和臆想。同樣的情況也出現在第七頁第二段。該段的文字聲稱：“在有些案例中，新疆當地政府會派中國共產黨幹部去對工人的家人進行監視。”而作者提供的資料出處（註釋43）原文根本就沒有任何相關的信息。【12】類似的手法在《ASPI報告》中不勝枚舉。
四、結語
眾所周知，學術研究報告應當科學嚴謹，引用規範，用詞準確，結論與論據存在邏輯性，論據應該是真實的，而不應該是偽造或編造的。而《ASPI報告》這份報告所引用的論據都是經過加工編造的，有的只是對新聞報導、政府工作報告和基本事實的斷章取義、蓄意歪曲、主觀臆想，甚至是惡意抹黑，簡言之，該報告所使用的論據是假的。論據為假，結論必假！總之，《ASPI報告》是一篇充滿謊言的研究報告，純粹是為了惡意抹黑不惜歪曲事實的的方式炮製出來的“反華工具”。
（作者楊鶤飛系四川大學國際關係學院副研究員，邊疆策研究院特約研究員）
註釋：
【1】原報告註釋5引用文章《新疆尼勒克：多措並舉探索提升農村勞動力疆外有組織轉移就業新模式》，
http://chinajob.mohrss.gov.cn/c/2019-06-24/115220.shtml。
《ASPI報告》註釋中標明文章來源於新疆公共就業服務中心，實際上來自人力資源和社會保障部的中國就業網。此處也許是報告作者理解有誤，故翻譯錯誤。
【2】原報告註釋32引用文章《新疆尼勒克：多措並舉探索提升農村勞動力疆外有組織轉移就業新模式》，
http://chinajob.mohrss.gov.cn/c/2019-06-24/115220.shtml，《ASPI報告》註釋中標明文章來源於新疆公共就業服務中心，實際報告刊登於中國就業網。
【3】註釋33引用文章《新疆自治區人力資源和社會保障廳：強化區內勞務協作促進長期穩定就業》，
http://www.mohrss.gov.cn/jycjs/JYCJSgongzuodongtai/201903/t20190321_312709.html。
【4】註釋85引用文章《自治區經濟結構穩中有活發展良好》，
http://www.xjdrc.gov.cn/info/9923/23516.htm。
【5】註釋89引用文章《新疆喀什和田農村富餘勞動力轉移就業工程實施兩年來》，
http://sa.sogou.com/sgsearch/sgs_tc_news.php?tencentdocid=20181115A1WSGD00&req=3iHw35AbIXbAFBRpziBVhTgxRDi_3lJjcBvnGzgoC2M=&user_type=1。
註釋90引用文章《南疆2410名貧困勞動力轉移就業》，
http://www.cwdpa.org.cn/lzjs/11500.html。
【6】《新疆維吾爾自治區農村富餘勞動力轉移就業以獎代補資金管理暫行辦法》(新材社[2016]37號)，
http://www.xjwqx.gov.cn/P/C/210.htm。
【7】註釋3文章引用文章A《對口援疆，做到群眾心坎上》，
http://ah.anhuinews.com/system/2018/07/26/007924378.shtml。
【8】註釋3引用文章B《和田外出務工人員在江西南昌高新企業就業縮影》，
https://www.hts.gov.cn/jinrihetian/show.php?itemid=363。
【9】註釋19引用文章《新疆自治區人力資源和社會保障廳：強化區內勞務協作促進長期穩定就業》，
http://www.mohrss.gov.cn/jycjs/JYCJSgongzuodongtai/201903/t20190321_312709.html。
【10】註釋23引用文章《2019年墨玉縣人民政府工作報告》，
http://www.ahmhxc.com/gongzuobaogao/16526.html。
【11】註釋37引用文章《和田地區創新機制助推勞動力轉移就業》，
http://www.chinaxinjiang.cn/dizhou/15/201705/t20170523_552732.htm。
【12】註釋43引用文章《新疆尼勒克：多措並舉探索提升農村勞動力疆外有組織轉移就業新模式》，
http://chinajob.mohrss.gov.cn/c/2019-06-24/115220.shtml。
《ASPI報告》註釋中標明文章來源於新疆公共就業服務中心，實際報告刊登於中國就業網。
個人積分：975分
文章編號：78885195
個人積分：975分
文章編號：78885293
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CHINA DETAINING MILLIONS OF UYGHURS? SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH CLAIMS BY US-BACKED NGO AND FAR-RIGHT RESEARCHER ‘LED BY GOD’ AGAINST BEIJING
https://thegrayzone.com/2019/12/21/china-detaining-millions-uyghurs-problems-claims-us-ngo-researcher/
AJIT SINGH AND MAX BLUMENTHALDECEMBER 21, 2019
CHINA
Claims that China has detained millions of Uyghur Muslims are based largely on two studies. A closer look at these papers reveals US government backing, absurdly shoddy methodologies, and a rapture-ready evangelical researcher named Adrian Zenz.
By Ajit Singh and Max Blumenthal
The US House of Representatives passed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act on December 3, legislation which calls for the Donald Trump administration to impose sanctions against China over allegations that Beijing has detained millions of Muslim-majority Uyghurs in the western region of Xinjiang.
To drum up support for the sanctions bill, Western governments and media outlets have portrayed the People’s Republic as a human rights violator on par with Nazi Germany. Republican Rep. Chris Smith, for instance, denounced the Chinese government for what he called the “mass internment of millions on a scale not seen since the Holocaust,” in “modern-day concentration camps.”
The claim that China has detained millions of ethnic Uyghurs in its Xinjiang region is repeated with increasing frequency, but little scrutiny is ever applied. Yet a closer look at the figure and how it was obtained reveals a serious deficiency in data.
While this extraordinary claim is treated as unassailable in the West, it is, in fact, based on two highly dubious “studies.”
The first, by the US government-backed Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, formed its estimate by interviewing a grand total of eight people.
The second study relied on flimsy media reports and speculation. It was authored by Adrian Zenz, a far-right fundamentalist Christian who opposes homosexuality and gender equality, supports “scriptural spanking” of children, and believes he is “led by God” on a “mission” against China.
As Washington ratchets up pressure on China, Zenz has been lifted out of obscurity and transformed almost overnight into a go-to pundit on Xinjiang. He has testified before Congress, providing commentary in outlets from the Wall Street Journal to Democracy Now!, and delivering expert quotes in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ recent “China Cables” report. His Twitter bio notes that he is “moving across the Atlantic” from his native Germany.
Before Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal questioned Zenz about his religious “mission,” at a recent event about Xinjiang inside the US Capitol, he had received almost entirely uncritical promotion from Western media.
The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, which first popularized the “millions detained” figure, has also been able to operate without a hint of media scrutiny.
Washington-backed NGO claims millions detained after interviewing eight people
The “millions detained” figure was first popularized by a Washington, DC-based NGO that is backed by the US government, the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD).
In a 2018 report submitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – often misrepresented in Western media as a UN-authored report – CHRD “estimate[d] that roughly one million members of ethnic Uyghurs have been sent to ‘re-education’ detention camps and roughly two million have been forced to attend ‘re-education’ programs in Xinjiang.” According to CHRD, this figure was “[b]ased on interviews and limited data.”
While CHRD states that it interviewed dozens of ethnic Uyghurs in the course of its study, their enormous estimate was ultimately based on interviews with exactly eight Uyghur individuals.
Based on this absurdly small sample of research subjects in an area whose total population is 20 million, CHRD “extrapolated estimates” that “at least 10% of villagers […] are being detained in re-education detention camps, and 20% are being forced to attend day/evening re-education camps in the villages or townships, totaling 30% in both types of camps.”
Applying these estimated rates to the entirety of Xinjiang, CHRD arrived at the figures submitted to the UN claiming that one million ethnic Uyghurs have been detained in “re-education detention camps” and two million more have been “forced to attend day/evening re-education sessions”.
Thanks to questionable sources like the CHRD, the United States government has accused China of “arbitrarily detain[ing] 800,000 to possibly more than two million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and other Muslims in internment camps designed to erase religious and ethnic identities.”
Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2018, State Department official Scott Busby stated this this “is the U.S. government assessment, backed by our intelligence community and open source reporting.”
The Chinese government has rejected US allegations, and claims that it has in fact established “vocational education and training centers […] to prevent the breeding and spread of terrorism and religious extremism.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry has stated that “there [are] no so-called ‘re-education camps’ in Xinjiang at all. The vocational education and training centers legally operated in Xinjiang aim to help a small number of people affected by terrorist and extremist ideologies and equip them with skills, so that they can be self-reliant and re-integrate into society.”
In its mounting pressure campaign against China, the US is not only relying on CHRD for data; it is directly funding its operations. As Ben Norton and Ajit Singh previously reported for The Grayzone, CHRD receives significant financial support from Washington’s regime-change arm, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The NGO has spent years campaigning on behalf of extreme right-wing opposition figures who celebrate colonialism and call for the “Westernization” of China.
‘Leading expert’ on Xinjiang relies on speculation and one questionable media report
The second key source for claims that China has detained millions of Uyghur Muslims is Adrian Zenz. He is a senior fellow in China studies at the far-right Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, which was established by the US government in 1983.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation is an outgrowth of the National Captive Nations Committee, a group founded by Ukrainian nationalist Lev Dobriansky to lobby against any effort for detente with the Soviet Union. Its co-chairman, Yaroslav Stetsko, was a top leader of the fascist OUN-B militia that fought alongside Nazi Germany during its occupation of Ukraine in World War Two. Together, the two helped found the World Anti-Communist League that was described by journalist Joe Conason as “the organizational haven for neo-Nazis, fascists, and anti-Semitic extremists from two dozen countries.”
Today, Dobriansky’s daughter, Paula, sits on the board of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. A former Reagan and George HW Bush official and signatory of the original Project for a New American Century document, Paula Dobriansky has become a fixture in neoconservative circles on Capitol Hill.
From its office in Washington, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation agitates for regime change from Venezuela to the periphery of China, advancing the “double genocide” theory that rewrites the history of the Holocaust and posits communism as a deadly evil on par with Hitlerian fascism.
Zenz’s politicized research on Xinjiang and Tibet has proven one of this right-wing group’s most effective weapons.
In September of 2018, Zenz wrote an article published in the Central Asian Survey journal concluding that “Xinjiang’s total re-education internment figure may be estimated at just over one million.” (A condensed version of the article was initially published by the Jamestown Foundation, a neoconservative think tank founded during the height of the Cold War by Reagan administration personnel with the support of then-CIA Director William J. Casey).
Like the CHRD, Zenz arrived at his estimate “over 1 million” in a dubious manner. He based it on a single report by Istiqlal TV, a Uyghur exile media organization based in Turkey, which was republished by Newsweek Japan. Far from an impartial journalistic organization, Istiqlal TV advances the separatist cause while playing host to an assortment of extremist figures.
One such character who often appears on Istiqlal TV is Abdulkadir Yapuquan, a reported leader of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a separatist group that aims to establish an independent homeland in Xinjiang called East Turkestan.
ETIM has been designated as a terrorist organization with ties to al-Qaeda by the US, European Union, and UN Security Council’s Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee. The Associated Press has reported that since “2013, thousands of Uighurs… have traveled to Syria to train with the Uighur militant group Turkistan Islamic Party and fight alongside al-Qaida,” with “several hundred join[ing] the Islamic State.”
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) has been among the most recalcitrant forces operating in the Al Qaeda-controlled Idlib province, rejecting all ceasefire efforts while indoctrinating children into militancy. TIP leadership has called on foreign Muslims to wage jihad in Syria, publishing an online recruitment video in 2018 that celebrated the 9/11 attacks as holy retaliation against a decadent United States awash in homosexuality and sin.
Children of the Turkistan Islamic Party in Idlib, Syria
According to the Los Angeles Times, Yapuquan is “a regular guest on Istiqlal TV… where his interviews often extended into hours-long emotional tirades against China.”
Turkish journalist Abdullah Bozkurt reported that Istiqlal TV has also hosted fanatical anti-Semites like Nureddin Yıldız, who in an interview on the network, “called for armed jihad not only in China’s autonomous Xinjiang region but all over the world and described China as a nation of savages, worse than the Jews.”
The Istiqlal TV report relied on by Zenz published an unverified table of “re-education detainee figures” allegedly “leaked” by Chinese authorities, totaling 892,000 individuals in 68 Xinjiang counties as of Spring 2018.
Zenz pads this data by citing reports from Radio Free Asia, a US-funded news agency created by the CIA during the Cold War to propagandize against China. (The Uyghur Human Rights Act recently passed by Congress mandates the US Agency for Global Media – the governmental parent of Radio Free Asia – to report on Xinjiang, including “assessments of Chinese propaganda strategies.”)
With his cobbling of questionable sources, Zenz extrapolates an extremely broad estimate “at anywhere between several hundred thousand and just over one million.”
While admitting that “there is no certainty” to his estimate, he has concluded that it is nevertheless “reasonable to speculate.” He attempted to evade personal responsibility for the figure’s questionable reliability, however, by stating “[t]he accuracy of this estimate is of course predicated on the supposed validity of the stated sources.”
As time goes on, Zenz continues to inflate his speculative estimate of Uyghur detainees. Speaking at an event organized by the US mission in Geneva in March 2019, Zenz stated, “Although it is speculative it seems appropriate to estimate that up to 1.5 million ethnic minorities [have been detained by China in Xinjiang].” Zenz bumped up his estimate again in a November 2019 interview with Radio Free Asia, claiming China was detaining 1.8 million people.
In an interview with Der Spiegel, Zenz claimed that China has effectively outlawed the practice of Islam in Xinjiang. “Anyone in Xinjiang who engages in any type of religious practice, anyone who even has a single Koran verse saved on their mobile phone, will be subjected to a brutal process of reeducation without trial,” he maintained.
These incendiary claims have vaulted Zenz to the status of international “expert” on Xinjiang, earned him invites to testify before US Congress and Canadian Parliament, and to deliver commentary in major US media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and Democracy Now!
Zenz has also been featured by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) as the leading authority legitimizing their recent “China Cables” investigation. The ICIJ report asserts that “[l]inguists, document and Xinjiang experts, including Zenz, who reviewed the documents have expressed confidence in their authenticity.”
Given Zenz’s habit of speculation and the questionable reliability of the lone Istiqlal TV media report he relies on for his estimates, it is troubling that Western governments and media have accepted and promoted his claims without a trace of skepticism.
A closer look at Zenz’s own biases should magnify these concerns, as he is a full-blown evangelical End Timer who appears to be believe that God has sent him on a holy crusade against the People’s Republic of China.
Fundamentalist Christian ‘led by God’ in mission against China, homosexuality, and gender equality
A born-again Christian who claims to preach at his local church, Adrian Zenz is a lecturer at the European School of Culture and Theology. This anodyne-sounding campus is actually the German base of Columbia International University, a US-based evangelical Christian seminary which considers the “Bible [to be] the ultimate foundation and the final truth in every aspect of our lives,” and whose mission is to “educate people from a biblical worldview to impact the nations with the message of Christ.”
Zenz’s work on China is inspired by this biblical worldview, as he recently explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “I feel very clearly led by God to do this,” he said. “I can put it that way. I’m not afraid to say that. With Xinjiang, things really changed. It became like a mission, or a ministry.”
Along with his “mission” against China, heavenly guidance has apparently prompted Zenz to denounce homosexuality, gender equality, and the banning of physical punishment against children as threats to Christianity.
Zenz outlined these views in a book he co-authored in 2012, titled Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation. In the tome, Zenz discussed the return of Jesus Christ, the coming wrath of God, and the rise of the Antichrist.
Zenz predicted that the future fall of capitalism will bring to power the Antichrist within a “few decades.” He identified the force that “will usher the Antichrist into power” as “the economic and financial fall of ‘Babylon,’ with ‘Babylon’ symbolically representing the world’s global economic system (capitalism).”
Worthy to Escape Adrian Zenz Uyghurs China
“Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation,” by Adrian Zenz and Marlon L. Sias
Along with the fall of capitalism, Zenz also views “postmodern relativism and tolerance thinking” and their apparent promotion of homosexuality, gender equality, and non-violent parenting to be threats to Christianity and “[t]he deceptive, leopard-like power behind the Antichrist.”
“It is very likely that the global persecution of true believers will center on the charge that they promote ‘intolerant views,’” Zenz wrote, “especially related to preaching against homosexuality.”
Zenz argued that “[h]ate crime and anti-discrimination laws will likely play a major role in the suppression of biblical Christianity” and formed part of an “anti-Christian ‘tolerance’ campaign” because they “forbid employers to discriminate based on gender or sexual orientations.”
“The outcome of this process is open rebellion against both God and God-given human authority structures”, Zenz stated, decrying that “[r]ising numbers of countries are banning all forms of physical punishment of children, the primary scriptural method for instilling respect for authority in the young generation and protecting them from rebellious tendencies.” Zenz assures readers that “true scriptural spanking is loving discipline and not violence.”
“Another important God-given authority structure that Satan is attacking through the postmodern spirit is that of gender authority structures”, Zenz continued. “Through notions of gender equality […] the enemy is undermining God’s unique but different role assignments for men and women.”
Given these obscurantist right-wing views, it is not surprising that Zenz’s proclaimed concern for the condition of Muslims in China does not seem to extend to Muslims elsewhere.
A search of Zenz’s Twitter profile returns no tweets concerning the rise of Islamophobia in the West, nor US wars and drone strikes against Muslim-majority countries. The only Tweet by Zenz concerning Muslims that is unrelated to China is a denial that there is a double standard in how violence is judged when committed by white people compared to Muslims.
‘The End Times is a very fascinating topic’
In his December 10, 2019 testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Adrian Zenz took a victory lap of sorts for Congress’ passage of the Uyghur Human Rights Act the week before, which placed new sanctions on the Chinese government. Citing the bill’s success, he called for opening a new front against China with a US investigation into “involuntary labor in relation to Xinjiang.”
Adrian Zenz testifying before Congress on December 10, 2019
That same day, Zenz also appeared on a panel dedicated to Xinjiang that was hosted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in the US Capitol Visitor Center.
On hand were Republican heavyweights like Sam Brownback, the ferociously anti-LGBT, anti-abortion former governor of Kansas and current US ambassador-at-large for religious freedom, as well as top staffers of Sen. Marco Rubio, the sponsor of virtually every China sanctions bill to be rubber-stamped by Congress in recent weeks.
Sam Brownback, a right-wing fundamentalist former senator, at the Victims of Communism panel on Xinjiang. (Zenz is second to his right).
During a question-and-answer session, The Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal asked Zenz about his fundamentalist religious views and far-right politics.
Zenz did not distance himself from his past statements denouncing gender equality and “tolerance thinking,” or his advocacy for the “scriptural spanking” of children. Instead, he asserted that there was no inconsistency between those views and the quality of his research on China’s Xinjiang region.
“I do have a diverse background and I have personal connections which I do not believe are inconsistent with my research,” Zenz responded to Blumenthal. “I do not support China’s authoritarian methods in any way, and I do believe there’s a God who is bringing judgment in different forms. The End Times is a very fascinating topic, a very complex topic, and I think, very relevant. And I think it’s good to live aware of that.”
Moments later, a visibly upset young man rose from his seat to “condemn the tankie Max Blumenthal.” Unleashing a torrent of insults at Blumenthal, he made no attempt to refute the journalist’s line of questioning.
The rigorously enforced conviction on display in the politically hermetic chambers of the US Capitol also encompasses the whole of Western media, where even purportedly progressive outlets have provided Zenz with an uncritical platform.
From Washington’s halls of power to major newsrooms, few are willing to let inconvenient facts get in the way of a new, undeniably faith-based Cold War crusade.
個人積分：394分
文章編號：79271760
個人積分：3003分
文章編號：79272070
ASPI:
好了，劣者今天晚上正想來一點ASPI，約莫明天天亮前會完成。歡迎來劣者開的樓瞧瞧--你確信...。
