Feng Huaixin, School of Politics and Public Administration, Xinjiang University

In November 2020, Adrian Zenz questioned China’s joint efforts with Central Asian countries to crack down on the “three forces,” professing that the Chinese government defined the “repression” in Xinjiang as “fighting terrorism” and united Central Asian countries to fight against the "three forces". It is to promote “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” with the name of anti-terrorism. Adrian Zenz staged that China’s war on terrorism was not in the truest sense of the word, but a violence aimed at special ethnic groups resisting the assimilation policy. His statement exposed his ignorance and prejudice, and the fallacies from the perspective of academic research are listed as follows.

The first fallacy: The cart put before the horse and the effect turned into the cause

One of the tasks of academic research is to find the cause and solution by distinguishing the cause-effect relationship. Confusing the cause and effect, or even inverting the effect as the cause, would result in absurd views.

Adrian Zenz was named an expert on Xinjiang-related issues by himself and anti-China forces, but he knew nothing about Xinjiang's history and reality. He was either ignorant or consciously wrong about the background and reasons of China's counter-terrorism policy. In Xinjiang, for a long time, the "three forces" instigated people through preaching the fallacy of "anti-Han" to create ethnic hatred, and engaged in violent and terrorist activities, which has severely damaged Xinjiang's development. The violent and terrorist activities have broken people’s peaceful life, and made people living in Xinjiang generally lack the sense of life security. In order to protect people’ lives and property, the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Committee and the People’s Government had to take effective measures to counter terrorism and de-radicalization. The causality could be clear at a glance.

The second fallacy: Reversing black and white, confusing vision and auditory

People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have suffered from the "three forces", and their basic rights have been deprived and threatened for many years. It can be said that once the "three forces" exist, people’s basic human rights of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang would not be guaranteed. According to the theory of human rights, human rights could be divided into four aspects: the right to survival, the right to development, the political rights of citizens, and the social rights. The right to survive is the most basic prerequisite. On the one hand, the "three forces" carried out a "human rights" offensive on the international stage, slandering the Chinese government for infringing on the human rights of the Uygurs, and engaged in separatist activities with the pretext of safeguarding the human rights and the rights of national self-determination of the Uygurs. On the other hand, they deprived the people’s right to survive of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang through inhuman acts, such as explosions, assassinations, and arson. It was the "three forces" violent terrorists and various anti-China forces that really persecuted the people’s human rights in Xinjiang. In Adrian Zenz's "research conclusions," the violent terrorists have been seen as fighters for human rights. His sinister intentions to reverse black and white, and confuse vision and auditory are clearly revealed.

The third fallacy: Coming out of nothing, working out lies

In his report, Adrian Zenz calumniated the “vocational education and training center,” created by the Chinese government to save people who committed minor criminal with employment opportunities, as “concentration camps,” and fabricated that illegal procreations listed on "Moyu List" were sent to “vocational education and training center.” However, the fact is that most of the people listed are local street residents, and they are working and living there normally. Only a very small number of people who have been infected by religious extreme ideologies and have minor crimes have received education and training in accordance with the law.

Adrian Zenz made groundless accusations against China's anti-terrorism policy, and interfered in Chinese internal affairs grossly. The Xinjiang-related issue is not an issue related to human rights, ethnic, or religious, but an issue of combating violence, terrorism, anti-separatism, and de-radicalization. The "three forces" created thousands of violent and terrorist cases, and committed numerous crimes in Xinjiang. With the support of the CPC, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government implemented the CPC’s strategy of governing Xinjiang, cracked down on violent and terrorist activities, promoted de-radicalization, and curbed the occurrence of terrorist incidents effectively in Xinjiang in over four years. People’s lives are secured, the social development is thriving, and the CPC’s strategy of governing Xinjiang has become more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. The party and the government’s powerful and effective actions against terrorism and de-radicalization have won people’s heartfelt support of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

Several facts have proved that Adrian Zenz is a "gunner" of various anti-China forces instead of a self-proclaimed scholar. His false "academic research" has lost the academic bottom line, violating the general academic norms and academic ethics. Adrian Zenz's conduction is no longer a matter of academic scope. His research is just a hodgepodge of random pieces and subjective speculation. He is a counterfeiter, with the guise of academic research, who lacks academic accumulation and deceives the world. His sinister intention is to stigmatize the Communist Party of China and Chinese socialist system. Actually, he is a political slave of various foreign anti-China forces.