China counters Uighur criticism with explicit attacks on women witnesses
www.reuters.com
China, under growing global pressure over its treatment of minority Muslim Uighurs in far west Xinjiang, is mounting an unprecedented and aggressive campaign to push back, including explicit attacks on women who have made claims of abuse.

China really dropping the ball on this one.

Chinese officials have named women, disclosed what they say is private medical data and information on the women’s fertility, and accused some of having affairs and one of having a sexually transmitted disease. The officials said the information was evidence of bad character, invalidating the women’s accounts of abuse in Xinjiang.

This on the heels after last month referring to Uighur women as baby making machines.

China has to work on their PR game.

  • maverick [they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    This is definitely troubling if it's true. Are there any other sources?

    • gammison [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/t1856125.shtml - press conference guy gave, not sure where the Xinjiang officials statements are you'd probably have to dig around local chinese news.

      • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        I don't see anything negative about Uyghur women in general in there. Just a very thorough refutation of one accuser's claims that most people seem to agree is fair.

        • lohs [she/her]
          ·
          4 years ago

          For others, Ctrl+F "Tursunay Ziyawudun" in the transcript: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/t1856125.shtml

          "This example is about a Uyghur woman named Tursunay Ziyawudun. In early February, in her interview with BBC, Tursunay Ziyawudun claimed that there were "systemic sexual abuses" in vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang, making a piece of sensational fake news. But the truth is, just like Zumrat Dawut, Tursunay Ziyawudun is an "actress" for certain elements to slander and smear China. She said in the interview, "The police knocked me on the floor and kicked me in the abdomen. I almost passed out." However, a year ago, in an interview with Buzzfeed, she said: "I wasn't beaten or abused." US media pointed out that before arriving in the United States, she had multiple interviews with foreign media outlets and institutions. However, she did not once mention the so-called "sexual abuse" in vocational education and training center in Xinjiang, or that she is a victim of such abuses. What is strange is that, several months after arriving in the United States, Tursunay Ziyawudun changed her narrative after being trained by certain forces. She recently had another interview with CNN where she said she had a contraceptive IUD implant. The fact is, her family members all know that she is infertile. She has never had any contraceptive operation in Xinjiang.

          Tursunay's lies are not even clever ones. They can be revealed by anyone. Regrettably, however, some media agencies, including famed international media outlets like BBC, grabbed such fake news and broadcast without any verification. They themselves became tools of Xinjiang-related rumor-mongering. BBC also blamed China's "tight restriction" on journalists for the lack of verification. But the facts are there for all to see. As a nearly century-old media outlet, why didn't BBC do some fact-checking? What hindered it was its intention, not incompetence.

          We have seen too many rumors and fabrications produced by BBC on Xinjiang and China, too many that I cannot present them all here. We hope all people can oppose lies and slanders against other countries, and avoid being fooled by lies and becoming carriers of disinformation like BBC."

      • maverick [they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        Thanks for the link.

        After reading through it the worst thing I could find was that he said one of the women that did interviews with BBC is infertile. Somewhat over the line to say that in a press conference but it wasn't to attack her character but to attack her claims of forced sterilization. Not great but not nearly as bad as the article above makes it out to be.

        • gammison [none/use name]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Yeah the really bad stuff is the Xinjiang local officials, but I don't speak mandarin and am not gonna bother the people I know who do to go hunt for it right now lol.

          • EthicalHumanMeat [he/him]
            ·
            4 years ago

            So in other words, you have no evidence for this "really bad stuff" and are just gonna take Reuters' word for it.