‘ Bewitched’ Vicky Xu invents Xinjiang story, stokes anti- China sentiments in Australia

Vicky Xu Xiuzhong, who is widely regarded by Chinese netizens as one of the manipulators behind this wave of Western crackdowns over issues related to Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, not only irritates the Chinese public but also puts the Chinese community in Australia in peril.

Xu is known as the author of Uyghurs for Sale, a so- called research report published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute ( ASPI). The report, released in March 2020, claimed there was forced labor in Xinjiang and at least 82 global brands were among the supply chains of Xinjiang- related factories. This was prior to the latest wave of Western attacks on China over non- existent forced labor concerns in the region.

Xu is performing a stunt for her groundless story smearing China and Xinjiang- related issues. Interviews by the Global Times showed that groundless reports by this Chinese who now lives in Australia are stoking the already strong antiChina sentiment in Australia and reducing the voices of the Chinese community in the country.

Xu is quite familiar among the Chinese community in Australia as a person who is frequently in the Western media spreading false information on China and issues relating to Xinjiang, but Chinese individuals in Australia chose to keep silent in the face of rising anti- Chinese racism in the country, the Global Times learned.

“We were all silent for fear of being ostracized. Making public comments supporting Chinese would be labeled as anti- Australia,” said an Australian who preferred to be called George.

Xu was hired by the ASPI as an analyst specializing in Chinese nationalism and Xinjiang issues. ASPI hired her because she is Chinese. The anti- China organization needs such an identity to pin labels on nationalism. A white face would not convince the public as easily as a yellow one, George told the Global Times.

Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, commented that it takes years of education and strenuous scholarly training to be a true academic. To call someone who has been producing fabrications and falsehoods a researcher and scholar is actually a blasphemy of the word “academic.”