An analysis of American interference in Xinjiang affairs under the context of human rights protection - A research report from the perspective of Xinjiang's population

I. Expose lies disguised with so-called "truth"

A lie is a nonfactual statement intended to deceive. Some American politicians believe that "a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth", but the lies disguised with so-called "truth" are bound to be exposed by the truth itself.

In recent years, some U.S. politicians have repeatedly used human rights as an excuse to wantonly interfere in China's internal affairs, citing fact-distorting research reports written by anti-China scholars concerning the so-called issues of Xinjiang and Hong Kong, etc.

For example, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo quoted the anti-China scholar Adrian Zenz's so-called research reports on Xinjiang for multiple times in his Xinjiang-related remarks.

Therefore, the following parts will begin with an analysis on Adrian Zenz's latest "report" published in June 2020 by the Jamestown Foundation, and then on Adrian Zenz himself and his viewpoints according to the population changes in Xinjiang "discovered" by Adrian Zenz, so as to further understand the ulterior motives of some American politicians.

1. Know Adrian Zenz as a "scholar"

In the Editor's Note of the report, Dr. Adrian Zenz is described as "one of the world's leading scholars on People's Republic of China (PRC) government policies towards the country's western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang." If that were true, Dr. Adrian Zenz should be a scholar of extraordinary academic influence.

However, in recent years, he has produced several "research reports" on Xinjiang and drawn the absurd conclusion that Xinjiang's total re-education internment figure is estimated at just over one million.

Also, we can know more about him through the information given by other foreign media. According to an article published on the independent news website "The Grayzone", Adrian Zenz is actually a far-right fundamentalist Christian and evangelical zealot.

He is a senior fellow in China studies at the far-right organization named Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, which was established by the U.S. government in 1983. He is also the backbone of the Research Group on Xinjiang's Education and Training Centers, an academic body allegedly set up and controlled by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Based on the above analysis, we can say Adrian Zenz is a "scholar" supported by the United States to make anti-China remarks. The opinion that Adrian Zenz is one of the world's leading scholars on China policies towards Tibet and Xinjiang is obviously untenable.

2. A closer look at the Editor's Note of the report published by Jamestown Foundation

An editor is a person who compiles a journal in which an article or report is published, and an editor's note is a brief introduction to the article or report to be published. Any article or report with theoretical or practical significance will be reviewed by the editor before publication. This review process involves an evaluation of the authenticity, scientific rigor, etc.

However, in Adrian Zenz's latest report published in June 2020, the editor commented that the report is a detailed analysis of "China's measures to forcibly suppress birthrates among ethnic Uygur communities", including "the mass application of mandatory birth control and sterilizations", so as to "reduce the Uygur population in Xinjiang relative to the numbers of ethnic Han Chinese - and thereby to promote more rapid Uygur assimilation into the 'Chinese Nation-Race'."

However, according to the statistics, the total population at the end of 2018 was 24.8676 million in Xinjiang.

From 2010 to 2018, the population of ethnic Uygur in Xinjiang has increased from 10.1715 million to 12.7184 million, an increase of 2.5469 million, an increase of 25.04%; the population of ethnic Hans increased from 8.8299 million to 9.0068 million, an increase of 0.1769 million an increase of 2.0%.

Therefore, I wonder where does the editor's statement of Chinese government intends to "reduce the Uygur population in Xinjiang" come from. We are also wondering whether the review standards applied by the Jamestown Foundation editors are reliable.

China is a unified multi-ethnic country. In the course of jointly building, developing, consolidating and reunifying the country, different ethnic groups have converged into a diversified yet integrated Chinese nation.

The relationship between the Chinese nation and all ethnic groups is that of a big family and its members. Xinjiang is one of the areas in China where local ethnic groups live and work together in the big family of the Chinese nation. They are economically interdependent, culturally connected and emotionally intimate.

In the big family of the Chinese nation, the ethnic Uygurs and other ethnic groups have shown mutual affinity and mutual assistance to each other.

The editor's assumption that China is "promoting more rapid Uygur assimilation into the 'Chinese Nation-Race'" is sheer nonsense.

To sum up, the Editor's Note rests on no fact and the hidden intentions are easy to see.

3. An analysis of Adrian Zenz's arguments

Researches conducted from the perspective of population are of great practical significance since they function as an important indicator of studying the population quantity, quality, structure, distribution and economic and social development in local areas.

Therefore, such researches should not only be scientific, forward-looking and sustainable, but also objective, impartial and precise. Only scientific research based on objective facts can accurately reflect the actual population situation.

In Adrian Zenz's report, each of the anti-China arguments is carefully embellished as so-called "research findings". He clearly understands the importance of population development to regional development, so he tried his best to fabricate a series of lies, disregarding the spirit of science.

In the report, Adrian Zenz began his exposition with Xinjiang's population situation and put much effort on fabricating the following outrageous lies.

Lie No.1: "Natural population growth in Xinjiang has declined dramatically" since 2015.

According to the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics and Statistical Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, from 2015 to 2017, Xinjiang's natural population growth rate remained stable at over 11‰.

The above statement of Adrian Zenz is not consistent with official statistics. Compared with the natural population growth rates of the previous 3 years, although the natural population growth rate in Xinjiang dropped to 6.13‰ in 2018, it is still at a relatively high level in relation to the national average level.

There is no such dramatic decline as Adrian Zenz stated. Natural population growth rate is an important indicator to reflect the speed of population development. Compared with the average national natural population growth rates in recent years, Xinjiang's growth rate of 6.13‰ in 2018 is in a reasonable range.