Washington DC [US] May 2 : Uyghur human rights advocates are expressing their criticism of Harvard University for providing training to officials from a Chinese paramilitary organization that the US government has sanctioned for human rights violations, which include mass detention and forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as reported by Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Individuals from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) participated in executive training programs at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health in 2023 and 2024, according to a study conducted by the China-focused think tank Strategy Risks.
This program, conducted in collaboration with China's National Healthcare Security Administration, concentrated on the governance of health insurance and public health policy. The Washington Free Beacon subsequently reported on the findings from Strategy Risks, as noted by RFA.
In July 2020, the US Treasury Department placed sanctions on the XPCC under the Global Magnitsky Act, highlighting the organisation's key involvement in executing mass surveillance, internment, and forced labour practices directed at Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. These sanctions forbid US individuals and institutions from participating in most forms of collaboration with the XPCC, as RFA pointed out.
Sabrina Sohail, the director of advocacy and communications at Campaign for Uyghurs, stated, "The XPCC is not a neutral administrative entity; it is the paramilitary wing of the Chinese Communist Party." She further warned, "By providing training to its officials, Harvard risks legitimising a system involved in genocide," as quoted by RFA.
The XPCC, referred to as "Bingtuan," functions as a quasi-military and economic entity in Xinjiang. It supervises significant agricultural and industrial sectors and possesses its police force, judicial system, and media outlets. US authorities have accused it of assisting in the management of detention centres and forced labour initiatives fundamental to China's oppression of Uyghurs, as emphasised in the RFA report.
The US government has classified the abuses against the Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, as genocide. It is estimated that approximately 1.8 million Uyghurs were detained in Xinjiang, located in China's far west, following 2017, according to the RFA report.
China refutes the allegations of human rights violations. The Commerce Ministry characterises the XPCC as "a strategic force for national stability and border defence" under "a unique management system that merges the roles of the Party, government, military, and enterprises." The XPCC administers development zones, 16 publicly traded companies, and over 3,000 businesses, as cited in the RFA report.
Henryk Szadziewski, the research director at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, emphasised that US institutions should recognise the legal and ethical implications of collaborating with sanctioned organisations, according to the RFA report.