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World NeWs Diabierna 19 Maart 2021
China accuses outspoken scholar on Xinjiang of fabrication

China first denied the exis- campaign as genocide by
tence of the camps but has some Western countries and
since described them as cen- growing calls for a boycott of
ters to provide job training the 2022 Winter Olympics to
and reeducate those exposed be held in China, have led to
to radical jihadist thinking. increased attacks on his char-
Officials deny all charges of acter.
human rights abuses in the One video displayed dur-
northwestern region. ing Xu’s news conference
showed two former husbands
Xinjiang had been a hotbed of a Uyghur woman who has
of anti-government violence, spoken spoke to media about
but Beijing claims its mas- her abuse in detention. One
sive security crackdown has of the men called her an ob-
brought peace in recent years. scene name and said she had
Zenz is a German anthropol- “bad moral quality.”
ogist and senior fellow at the Another video showed men
U.S.-based Victims of Com- alleging another woman who
munism Memorial Founda- has spoken to the foreign me-
(AP) — China on Thurs- of news conferences aimed “Adrian Zenz and his so- tion that has been sharply dia about Xinjiang had perpe-
day accused a scholar and at deflecting criticism over called research reports are critical of China’s human trated a bank loan scheme.
outspoken critic of its China’s detention of more sure to be thrown on the rights record and its policies “You are a lousy person,” one
policies toward Muslim than 1 million Uyghurs and dust heap of history and be in Xinjiang and Tibet. man said. Another said the
minorities of fabricating other Muslims in reeduca- despised by the 25 million In a telephone call from Min- woman had been an unfaith-
charges that have helped tion camps. people of various ethnicities nesota, Zenz said the Chi- ful spouse.
bring sanctions against Zenz has also used govern- in Xinjiang,” Xu said. nese government campaign Zenz says the vast major-
Chinese officials and ment documents to detail China’s Foreign Ministry and against him “smacks of des- ity of his work is based on
companies operating in the mistreatment of Muslim state media have said com- peration.” documents produced by the
the Xinjiang region. women in such facilities and panies and individuals have “The attacks on the Uyghur Chinese government such as
the coercive use of birth con- petitioned to sue Zenz for witnesses have become more propaganda videos, local gov-
The ruling Communist Par- trol that has radically cut the economic and reputational and more nasty. It’s especially ernment websites and com-
ty’s deputy head of propagan- birthrate among such groups. damages, although the names disgusting,” Zenz said. pany notices.
da, Xu Guixiang, made the He has also published on the of the plaintiffs haven’t been Zenz said the economic pres- “I used their propaganda
accusations against Adrian alleged use of forced labor in revealed and it isn’t clear how sure of sanctions, along with against them, and read be-
Zenz in the latest of a series Xinjiang’s cotton fields. they will pursue the charges. the designation of China’s tween the lines,” Zenz said.

Envoy protests mandated virus tests for foreigners in Seoul

(AP) — Britain’s ambas- breaks among low-skilled
sador to South Korea on foreign workers employed
Thursday criticized South at Gyeonggi factories, who
Korean health authorities often face hash working and
for mandating corona- living conditions that expose
virus tests on all foreign them to higher infection
workers in Seoul and a risks.
nearby province in a mass Lim Seung-kwan, a doc-
testing campaign that tor who heads Gyeonggi’s
has triggered complaints anti-virus efforts, said health
about racial discrimina- workers found 203 positive
tion. cases among some 234,500
foreigners who were tested in
In video message posted on the 10 days through Wednes-
Twitter, Ambassador Simon day.
Smith said his embassy has The province last week is-
made it clear to South Korea’s sued an administrative order
national government that the requiring all employers to
measures in the greater capi- have their foreign employees
tal area “are not fair, they’re tested by March 22, which re-
not proportionate, nor are sulted in thousands of work-
they likely to be effective.” ers waiting at testing stations
He said the embassy also over the weekend.
raised the issue with South The controversy over the
Korea’s National Human testing on foreigners has tar-
Rights Commission. government began necessi- on arrival. ther by additionally forcing nished the image of a country
tating tests for all foreign na-
Seoul had around 240,000 employers to require tests
“However, my strong advice that had been eager to tout its
to all British workers in Seoul tionals employed in the city, registered foreigners at the on all new foreign jobseekers hard-won gains against the
regardless of their visa status end of 2020, but city offi-
and hire those who test nega-
and the other areas affected virus.
is to follow the authorities’ or recent travel history. They cials didn’t have an immedi- tive, but scrapped the plan on Regional health officials and
could face fines of up to 2 ate estimate on how many of Thursday following a back-
requirements to take a test,” the country’s top infectious
Smith said. million won ($1,770) if they them would be mandated for lash by rights groups. disease expert, Korea Dis-
fail to be tested until the end tests. City officials have also
“The authorities have spelled ease Control and Prevention
out that if you fail to take the of March. encouraged undocumented Foreign communities and Agency director Jung Eun-
The testing mandate is in ad-
foreigners to come forward human rights groups have
test in time, you could face a kyeong, have defended the
considerable fine.” dition to virus control mea- for tests, promising not to accused health authorities of tests, citing the transmissions
sures at the border since new report them to immigration stigmatizing foreigners as po-
Long lines have snaked among foreign factory work-
around designated test- arrivals must have a negative authorities. tential infection sources. ers who are often crammed
test before they travel or must Nearby Gyeonggi province The testing campaigns came
ing centers in Seoul since together in small poorly ven-
Wednesday when the city undergo a 14-day quarantine had intended to go even fur- in response to sporadic out- tilated shelters.