All Reading
This section contains a curated list of useful articles, investigations, books and other reading materials. The list is updated on a weekly basis and suggestions for additions are welcome.
Starting Points:
Burberry becomes first luxury brand to suffer Chinese backlash over Xinjiang
Burberry has lost a Chinese brand ambassador and its hallmark tartan design was scrubbed from a popular video game, becoming the first luxury brand assailed by the Chinese backlash to Western accusations of abuses in Xinjiang.
Exclusive: Amazon turns to Chinese firm on U.S. blacklist to meet thermal camera needs
Amazon.com Inc has bought cameras to take temperatures of workers during the coronavirus pandemic from a firm the United States blacklisted over allegations it helped China detain and monitor Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
1.5 million Muslims could be detained in China's Xinjiang: academic
A leading researcher on China’s ethnic policies said on Wednesday that an estimated 1.5 million Uighurs and other Muslims could be held in so-called re-education centers in Xinjiang region, up from his earlier figure of 1 million. Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher, said that his new estimate was based on satellite images, public spending on detention facilities and witness accounts of overcrowded facilities and missing family members.
Tracking China’s Muslim Gulag - Turning the Desert Into Detention Camps
This investigation by Reuters and Earthrise Media analyzes satellite imagery to plot the construction and expansion of 39 re-education camps, revealing that tripling of the footprint in the space of 17 months.
From laboratory in far west, China's surveillance state spreads quietly
Government procurement documents collected by Reuters and rare insights from officials show that surveillance technology encountered in Xinjiang is encroaching into cities like Shanghai and Beijing. The documents provide a rare glimpse into the numbers behind China’s push to arm security forces with high-tech monitoring tools as the government clamps down on dissent.
Terror threats transform China's Uighur heartland into security state
Three times a day, alarms ring out through the streets of China’s ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar, and shopkeepers rush out of their stores swinging government-issued wooden clubs. In mandatory anti-terror drills conducted under police supervision and witnessed by Reuters on a recent visit, they fight off imaginary knife-wielding assailants. Armored paramilitary and police vehicles circle with sirens blaring.
China premier urges more efforts in restive Uighur heartland
China’s violence-prone western region of Xinjiang needs to make more efforts at development in its ethnic Uighur heartland to ensure young people there have “something to do and money to earn”, Premier Li Keqiang told its top officials.
IOC has no regrets over choosing Beijing, says Rogge
International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge has no regrets over Beijing being chosen to host the 2008 Games despite criticism from human rights campaigners.