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:
2-time Olympic snowboarder calls for Team Canada boycott of Beijing 2022
Drew Neilson spent a good portion of his youth screaming down snowy slopes all over the world in pursuit of podiums. But now a decade into retirement, he says he can’t help but speak out about the 2022 Beijing Olympics and the International Olympic Committee’s willingness to partner with China, calling for a full Canadian boycott of the games. “I’m really disgusted. I don’t want to even be called an Olympian anymore,” he said from his home in North Vancouver. “The IOC recognizes … human rights as enshrined in the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter and the code of ethics, and they say the IOC takes this responsibility very seriously. But do they?”
‘The world must boycott’: Australian Uyghur calls for more pressure on Beijing Games
Almas Nizamidin, whose wife has been sentenced to seven years in prison in Xinjiang, says a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics is not enough. What Almas Nizamidin knows of his wife’s arrest and disappearance is second-hand: the harried reports relayed by his relatives as it rapidly unfolded. She remains incarcerated in Xinjiang Women’s Prison, sentenced to seven years’ jail on “disturbing social order” charges her family says are baseless.
Special Report: Amazon partnered with China propaganda arm
Amazon.com Inc was marketing a collection of President Xi Jinping's speeches and writings on its Chinese website about two years ago, when Beijing delivered an edict, according to two people familiar with the incident.
US Congress passes import ban on Chinese Uyghur region
The US Congress has passed a bill that requires companies to prove that goods imported from China's Xinjiang region were not produced with forced labour. The US has accused China of genocide in its repression of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority there - a charge that China has repeatedly rejected. The bill had been criticised by major companies that do business in the area, including Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple.
The CCP's Willing Influencers Amplify State Propaganda Online
This week, a slew of new reports on China’s online propaganda campaigns was released. As researchers documented, the CCP is increasingly using foreign influencers to disseminate pro-China narratives on Western social media—particularly regarding the crimes against humanity in Xinjiang—in order to increase engagement and defend against foreign critics.
U.S. curbs Chinese drone maker DJI, other firms it accuses of aiding rights abuses
The U.S. government put investment and export restrictions on dozens of Chinese companies on Thursday, including top drone maker DJI, accusing them of complicity in the oppression of China's Uyghur minority or helping the military, further ratcheting up tensions between the world's top two economies.
What is happening in Xinjiang as 2021 draws to a close?
A Q&A with Darren Byler, author of a new book on China’s oppressive policies against Uyghurs and other Muslims in western China. "In general, what we are seeing is a shift from mass internment to coerced labor and mass imprisonment [...] At the same time, those who are deemed more serious risks have either been sentenced to prison terms or are still being held as they await trial."
UN to Release Much-Anticipated Rights Report on China
Last week the spokesperson for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it would be only “a matter of a few weeks” until the release of a much-anticipated report showing “patterns” of Chinese government human rights violations against Uyghurs and other Turkic communities in the Xinjiang region.
Chinese government deploying online influencers amid Beijing Olympics boycotts
The Chinese government hired a firm to recruit social media influencers as part of a new digital operation amid controversies surrounding diplomatic boycotts of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, OpenSecrets’ review of Foreign Agents Registration Act Records found. The influence operation is being coordinated by Vippi Media, a consulting firm based in New Jersey, as part of a $300,000 contract that spans through March 2022. China’s Consulate General in New York paid $210,000 in advance on Nov. 23.
U.N. says to publish findings soon on abuses in Xinjiang
The United Nations' human rights office is finalising its assessment of the situation in China's Xinjiang region, a spokesperson said on Friday. They said the office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet hoped to publish its report in the coming weeks and that there had been "no concrete progress" in long-running talks with Chinese officials on a proposed visit.
The Xinjiang Papers: An Analysis of Key Findings and Implications for the Uyghur Tribunal in London
This report, submitted to the Uyghur Tribunal, contains a detailed analysis of the Xinjiang Papers and what this evidence indicates about the central government’s role in Xinjiang policies, as well as the author’s resulting conclusions on the question of genocide.
China committed genocide against Uyghurs, independent tribunal rules
China has committed genocide against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, an unofficial UK-based tribunal has found. The Uyghur Tribunal cited birth control and sterilisation measures allegedly carried out by the state against the Uyghurs as the primary reason for reaching its conclusion.
The Uyghur Tribunal Delivers Its Judgment
The Uyghur Tribunal, having reviewed evidenced since September 2020, reaches a judgment on whether international crimes are proved to have been committed by the PRC.
Canada, U.K. and Australia join U.S. in diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics
Canada will join the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
IOC says it ‘respects’ US boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that it respects the United States’ decision to diplomatically boycott the forthcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, while defending its “quiet diplomacy” in handling the case of Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai. “We always ask for as much respect as possible and least possible interference from the political world,” said Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, the IOC’s coordination commission chief for the Beijing Winter Olympics. “We have to be reciprocal. We respect the political decisions taken by political bodies.”
US diplomats to boycott 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
The US has announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China - a move that has been heavily criticised by Beijing. The White House said no official delegation would be sent to the Games because of concerns about China's human rights record. But it said US athletes could attend and would have the government's full support.
2022 Beijing Winter Olympics: China criticises US diplomatic boycott
China has condemned a planned US diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and threatened to retaliate. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China would take "resolute counter-measures" but did not give further details.
Borrowing mouths to speak on Xinjiang
This report explores how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses foreign social media influencers to shape and push messages domestically and internationally about Xinjiang that are aligned with its own preferred narratives.
White House announces US diplomatic boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing
The Biden administration will not send an official US delegation to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing as a statement against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang."
Leaked papers link top Chinese leaders to Uyghur crackdown
A newly published cache of documents directly links top Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping to the state's crackdown on Uyghur Muslims. China has consistently denied that it is committing genocide against Uyghurs. Some of the documents were the subject of an earlier report, but the latest leak has previously unseen information.