{"id":3966,"date":"2017-10-17T17:44:54","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T17:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iuhrdf.org\/en\/2017\/10\/17\/rebiya-kadeer-open-letter-global-research-fake-news-about-uyghurs\/"},"modified":"2017-10-17T17:44:54","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T17:44:54","slug":"rebiya-kadeer-open-letter-global-research-fake-news-about-uyghurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iuhrdf.org\/en\/rebiya-kadeer-open-letter-global-research-fake-news-about-uyghurs\/","title":{"rendered":"Rebiya Kadeer: Open Letter to Global Research on Fake News About Uyghurs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an article published on Global Research earlier this month, Moscow based political analyst Andrew Korybko alleges that reports of China\u2019s confiscation of Qurans and prayer rugs in occupied Eastern Turkistan (aka Xinjiang) is \u201cnothing more than a fake news info-war attack cooked up by the US \u2018deep state\u2019 through two of its anti-Chinese proxies.\u201d Mr. Korybko story \u2013 \u201cthe viral fake news report that China is suppressing Muslims in Xinjiang\u201d also appears on Sputnik News as the \u201ctop story of the week.\u201d <\/span><\/div>\n
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His main source for confirming the allegation in his article \u2013 \u201cFake News Report About the Rights of China\u2019s Muslims Exposed as US Infowar?<\/a>\u201d A tweet by Zhao Lijian, the Deputy Chief of the Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad. On September 30, Lijian tweeted:<\/div>\n
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“This is totally baseless. Muslims in China enjoy good life. Radio Free Asia is anti-China. World Uyghur Congress is a separatist group. “<\/div>\n
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First, the WUC advocates for the Uyghur people\u2019s right to self-determination. And we\u2019re unapologetically proud of that. Our organization is engaged in nonviolent advocacy for human rights, religious freedom and democracy for the people of Eastern Turkistan. If that makes us a separatist group, so be it. <\/div>\n
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Fake news is propaganda that consists of deliberate misinformation or hoaxes. News isn\u2019t fake just because it isn\u2019t consistent with one\u2019s interest or political views. And having a member of the regime that persecutes Uyghurs claim that Radio Free Asia\u2019s recent reports are fake certainly doesn\u2019t make it fake. China isn\u2019t really known for its honesty on human rights issues, is it? <\/div>\n
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Mr. Korybko could have contacted RFA or other Uyghur organizations to raise his concerns and ask about the verification process for RFA\u2019s report. He could have contacted human rights monitoring organizations. But instead he decided to take China\u2019s word as the truth on the issue despite the obvious conflict of interest. <\/div>\n
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Mr. Korybko, you concluded that the report was not credible because of World Uyghur Congress\u2019s anti-China sentiments (and we\u2019ll confirm that we are anti-China violating the human rights of the Uyghur and Tibetan people), but you didn\u2019t consider China\u2019s motives when Mr. Lijian said the report was fake? If you considered yourself a journalist as you were writing the article, perhaps I may remind you that the journalist\u2019s first loyalty is to the truth? <\/div>\n
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If WUC was RFA\u2019s source for the report, it\u2019s because China blocks independent media access to not just Eastern Turkistan but also to all regions in China. We\u2019re disappointed that you didn\u2019t bring this issue \u2013China\u2019s restrictions on free speech and media \u2013up in your analysis. <\/div>\n
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Let\u2019s discuss the credibility to the report Mr. Korybko has labeled fake news. Now, the news of China confiscating Qurans and prayer rugs<\/a> may seem shocking and unrealistic to someone who is unfamiliar with China\u2019s policies in the Uyghur region. But the World Uyghur Congress has little doubts about the accuracy of the reports it verified through Uyghurs in exile who learned of the confiscation efforts through family members in the homeland. RFA\u2019s Uyghur Service verified the reports by communicating with local government officials and residents. <\/div>\n
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An official statement of the local government in Korla, Eastern Turkistan has been circulating on social media since September 25<\/a>, 2017. The notice orders all to \u201cbring the Quran and prayer rugs to the United Front Work Department before the flag-raising ceremony on Monday.\u201d Our organization went to great efforts to verify this audio notice and RFA also verified that it was indeed the voice of local government officials.<\/div>\n
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RFA further confirmed the confiscation efforts on September 26 when Rehim Yasin<\/a>, the head of Ara Bughra Village in Qara Yulghun Township of Korla city told the news service, <\/div>\n
We are confiscating all Qurans, whenever and wherever they were printed, not only Qurans printed in 2012. We could return versions of the Quran that don\u2019t pose a danger to national security after checks and assessment by the appropriate government agencies.<\/div>\n
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In RFA\u2019s September 27 news report<\/a>, Rehim Yasin also said, <\/div>\n
“People don\u2019t drink wines and dance at homes with prayer rugs. As a consequence, the family isolates itself from society and they would approach radical material on social media very easily and become a threat to national security. Previously, we neglected this, considering it nonsense. But so many incidents have occurred as a result.  From now on, we will never give a chance to any element, whether big or small, that may be a potential threat to national security and the stability of Xinjiang.”<\/span><\/div>\n
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That is not WUC or the RFA\u2019s statement, but the official statement of a local Uyghur official who works for the Chinese regime. If Global Research or anyone else are interested, we are willing to provide the audio and transcription of that statement. <\/div>\n
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The reports of China\u2019s confiscation of Qurans and prayer rugs are not fake despite Mr. Lijian and Mr. Korybko\u2019s claim. Mr. Korybko\u2019s article and Global Research\u2019s publication of it insults true journalism and trivializes if not outright denies the suffering of the Uyghur people under Chinese occupation.<\/div>\n
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The confiscation of Qurans and prayer rugs is not the most urgent of issues the Uyghurs are facing. Perhaps, the most urgent issue today is the detention of thousands of Uyghurs in \u201cre-education\u201d camps. Then there\u2019s the arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, extra judicial killings, enforced disappearances. The issue is that these grave violations of basic human rights have become part of the daily lives of the Uyghur people since the 2009 Urumchi Massacre. <\/div>\n
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According to it\u2019s website, the Centre for Research on Globalization, which established Global Research in 2001, is \u201can independent research and media organization\u201d and a nonprofit based in Montreal. We\u2019re disappointed to learn that an independent media organization based in Canada would publish a defamatory article without regard for core journalistic principles. We are used to the hostility of Chinese allies \u2013 like Pakistan, Cuba and North Korea \u2013at Human Rights Committee meetings at the United Nations, but are deeply disappointed to find that an independent media organization based in the West would allege our reports are fake without providing any substantial verification (China saying Uyghurs enjoy a good life is not verification). <\/div>\n
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We see that the Global Research has published several articles on China\u2019s One Belt, One Road Initiative without mentioning \u201cXinjiang\u201d or Uyghurs. That seems strange considering that most other independent (and even those not so independent) have mentioned the Uyghurs and \u201cXinjiang\u201d in their coverage of the One Belt, One Road Initiative. Perhaps while highlighting the benefits of China\u2019s initiative to the Middle East and Central and South Asia, Global Research writers should also research how China\u2019s initiative impacts the Uyghurs. China\u2019s investment in the initiative is secured through the repression of the Uyghur people. <\/div>\n
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Finally, we\u2019d like to remind Mr. Korybko and Global Research that the World Uyghur Congress is an organization legally registered in Germany. It\u2019s no secret to anyone who takes consumes news on world affairs that the Chinese Communist Party Mr. Korybko\u2019s article defends rules the authoritarian dictatorship that crushed its own Han Chinese students under tanks at Tiananmen Square in 1989. That wasn\u2019t fake news. And neither is China\u2019s persecution of Uyghurs today.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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