‘East Turkistan’ forces make up ‘Karakax list’
▶ Scholar hypes report to smear China’s policies in Xinjiang: officials
The so-called Karakax list hyped up by anti-China scholar Adrian Zenz is a fabrication in collusion with “East Turkistan” forces and cannot stand scrutiny, head of Moyu county told a media conference in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Saturday.
Based on a list of “trainees sent to re-education [who are] family members of those who went abroad and have not returned to Karakax,” Zenz published the report, The Karakax List: Dissecting the Anatomy of Beijing’s Internment Drive, on February 17, which slandered China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts in the
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Karakax is known as Moyu county in Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang.
“The report is full of subjective assumptions, which were cobbled together out of wishful conjecture, and thus cannot stand scrutiny, as it does not conform with the facts,” Mehmut Wumrjang, head of Moyu, said during Saturday’s press conference, presenting concrete evidence that proves the report is a concocted tale lacking evidence. Mehmut revealed Zenz is a German national who also has a Chinese name, Zheng Guoen.
Zenz claimed in the report that all 311 people in the list hail from Moyu county and have overseas relations, besides they were detained at vocational education and training centers.
However, after careful investigation, it is found the majority of the 311 individuals on the “Karakax list” are residents of the Bositan Street in Moyu county, and they have been working and living a normal life, besides they never attended vocational education and training, except a very few among them. Mehmut told Saturday’s press conference that only those who were influenced by religious extremism or committed minor offenses, once received vocational education and training according to law.
Among the 311 people, only 19 have overseas relatives, who have never been subject to any vocational education and training, he added.
In Zenz’s report, he claimed that some people were sent to “detention centers” in Xinjiang for “overseas travel,” “talking to people overseas,” or even “visiting foreign websites.”
Yalikun Yakuf, the deputy chief of the Public Security Department of Xinjiang, said that some ill-intentioned people in the West, like Zenz, have mixed up the concepts of normal deeds and criminal acts to attack Xinjiang’s counterterrorism and de-radicalization efforts.
One example is the “going abroad” part discussed by Zenz in his report. On the surface, it was about going aboard for tourism; however, after lawful investigation, it was found that some people joined terrorist and extremist organizations after leaving China, and then returned to Xinjiang in a bid to perpetrate terrorist attacks.
The “Karakax List” report alleged 25.3 percent of the people in the “internment can be explained by their religious beliefs related reasons.”
Ilijang Anayt, spokesperson of the information office of the Xinjiang regional government, said that “There have never been surveillance on people for going to mosque, frequency of their mosque visits, or their fasting during Ramadan, as alleged by Zenz, let alone the socalled religion control.”
Islam is practiced healthily in Xinjiang, with over 20,000 mosques, 29,000 Islamic clerical personnel and 103 Islamic associations at various levels. Xinjiang has 10 Islamic institutions.