Claims of Uighur forced labor are reasonable and constitute crimes against humanity, Keele University international law professor Tomoya Obokata said in a report to the UN. This is not only the fruit of his academic efforts, but the result of unwavering virtue in the face of difficulties and threats.
UN Special Rapporteur Alena Douhan played a role in China’s Uighur propaganda campaign and received US$200,000 from the Chinese for her efforts.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also failed to stand up to Beijing’s pressure during her visit to Xinjiang. Even if China distorted her words when presenting her evaluation of the human rights situation, which was the basis of her report, she, as an admirer of China, did not dare to correct any mistakes in these crucial points.
China deceives, misleads and scares followers of the truth in various ways. Bachelet’s silence in the face of her distorted words and Douhan’s bribery are only some of the results of the long-standing deceitful methods used by China to gain power.
Having lived under the Chinese regime for decades, served in its government and knowing how its institutions work, we authors assume that Obokata must have experienced unwanted attention from Beijing for not implementing its “suggestions and recommendations.”
If this has not happened yet, China is likely to begin “caring” for him soon.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) on Wednesday last week denied Obokata’s findings and accused him of abusing his power to “patently smear China and act as a political tool of anti-China forces.”
Evil forces see the world through an evil lens and act accordingly, so we can say that Obokata’s reporting of Uighur forced labor as contemporary slavery is only the beginning of his fight to speak the truth and struggle for the oppressed.
International Islamic University Malaysia assistant professor Olsi Jazexhi, who investigated the Uighur situation at China’s invitation in his previous position at Aleksander Moisiu University in Durres, Albania, lost that job because he revealed the truth to the world after his visit.
US basketball star Enes Kanter Freedom and German soccer player Mesut Ozil have also been suspended from their respective teams under threats from China for siding with oppressed Uighurs.
Obokata knowingly took a risk in reporting on Uighur forced labor as contemporary slavery and a crime against humanity.
In a situation where US wrestler John Cena is fearfully asking for forgiveness from China, and billionaires such as Elon Musk are praising China and opening companies in Urumqi, Xinjiang, where a genocide is reportedly ongoing, Obokata’s objective judgement about Uighur forced labor is not only a sign of professionalism, but one of courage. He is virtuous and recognizes his responsibility to fulfill his duties with humanity.
We believe that the objective conclusion of this expert in the field of slave labor can lead the international community to the correct understanding of the Uighur situation. In particular, the report is likely to lead diplomats, experts and journalists working in Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries who are ignoring or even denying the Uighur genocide under the influence of China’s “well organized” trips and its “warm” reception, to rethink their opinions and positions.
This report should also give encouragement and inspiration to Bachelet to keep her promise and publish a “Xinjiang report” before leaving office.
We authors would like to express our sincere thanks to Obokata and Keele University on behalf of the voiceless Uighur people.
Rebiya Kadeer is president of the World Uyghur Congress. Kok Bayraq is a Uyghur American.
After more than a year of review, the National Security Bureau on Monday said it has completed a sweeping declassification of political archives from the Martial Law period, transferring the full collection to the National Archives Administration under the National Development Council. The move marks another significant step in Taiwan’s long journey toward transitional justice. The newly opened files span the architecture of authoritarian control: internal security and loyalty investigations, intelligence and counterintelligence operations, exit and entry controls, overseas surveillance of Taiwan independence activists, and case materials related to sedition and rebellion charges. For academics of Taiwan’s White Terror era —
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long been expansionist and contemptuous of international law. Under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the CCP regime has become more despotic, coercive and punitive. As part of its strategy to annex Taiwan, Beijing has sought to erase the island democracy’s international identity by bribing countries to sever diplomatic ties with Taipei. One by one, China has peeled away Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic partners, leaving just 12 countries (mostly small developing states) and the Vatican recognizing Taiwan as a sovereign nation. Taiwan’s formal international space has shrunk dramatically. Yet even as Beijing has scored diplomatic successes, its overreach
On Feb. 7, the New York Times ran a column by Nicholas Kristof (“What if the valedictorians were America’s cool kids?”) that blindly and lavishly praised education in Taiwan and in Asia more broadly. We are used to this kind of Orientalist admiration for what is, at the end of the day, paradoxically very Anglo-centered. They could have praised Europeans for valuing education, too, but one rarely sees an American praising Europe, right? It immediately made me think of something I have observed. If Taiwanese education looks so wonderful through the eyes of the archetypal expat, gazing from an ivory tower, how
China has apparently emerged as one of the clearest and most predictable beneficiaries of US President Donald Trump’s “America First” and “Make America Great Again” approach. Many countries are scrambling to defend their interests and reputation regarding an increasingly unpredictable and self-seeking US. There is a growing consensus among foreign policy pundits that the world has already entered the beginning of the end of Pax Americana, the US-led international order. Consequently, a number of countries are reversing their foreign policy preferences. The result has been an accelerating turn toward China as an alternative economic partner, with Beijing hosting Western leaders, albeit
RSS