Human rights in China: Beijing endorses legal action against German scholar over Xinjiang abuse claims

Lawsuits seek apologies and financial compensation from Adrian Zenz, the researcher central to claims of abuses in the Chinese region

Zenz says the legal action does not bother him and shows his research is being noticed

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German researcher Adrian Zenz’s 2018 work was among the first to show that more than 1 million Uygur Muslims had been detained in Xinjiang. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:28pm, 9 Mar 2021Updated: 7:31pm, 9 Mar 2021

China has endorsed a series of lawsuits against a German researcher central to claims of abuses in Xinjiang, in the latest move to hit back against foreign allegations of forced labour in the region.

The suits seek apologies and financial compensation from the researcher, Adrian Zenz, according to the state-run news site Tianshannet, which reported the cases on Monday. Specifically, the plaintiffs dispute a report Zenz wrote for the Washington-based Centre for Global Policy in December, in which he said hundreds of thousands of labourers from ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang were “being forced to pick cotton by hand”.

The lawsuits were later endorsed by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who blamed Zenz for the Western backlash over Xinjiang.

“Some politicians have chosen to believe his words,” Zhao told a regular news briefing on Tuesday in Beijing.

Zenz said the legal action did not bother him and showed his research was getting noticed.

“It’s really rattling them,” he said by telephone from the United States, where he lives. “It’s important to see that my research is having a real impact.”