China Quietly Eradicating Uyghurs with AI and Contraceptives: The Testimony of the Author of "AI Prison Uyghur": Jeffrey Kane

China hosted the Peace Festival Olympics. On the other hand, they are also using technologies such as AI (artificial intelligence), biometric authentication, and genetic profiling to push forward with bizarre and intense high-tech suppression. We visited the inside of this closed authoritarian system and interviewed Mr. Jeffrey Kane, who published "AI Prison Uyghur" (published by Shinchosha) based on the testimony of 168 Uyghurs. (Interviewer: Hikaru Nagano, Seed Planning Researcher)

--Uyghur women are required by the Chinese government to take oral contraceptives. Some are forced to undergo sterilization at local clinics, she writes. Does this mean that genocide is taking place openly?

Kane: You could call it genocide. The definition of genocide is complex and there are many different ways of thinking about it. However, an attempt to wipe out an entire ethnic or religious group, etc. would be a sufficient definition of genocide. Whether it's identity obliteration or physical obliteration, it's the same thing.

The People's Court "Uyghur Court" set up in London is an independent judiciary, although it has no capacity to impose sanctions. The Uyghur court summoned the Chinese ambassador to testify, but the Chinese side refused. In December last year, the Uyghur court finally ruled that "what the Chinese government is doing to the Uyghur people is genocide." The deciding factors are oral contraceptives and forced sterilization. It is evidence that Chinese leaders are trying to erase the Uyghur people and Uyghur culture over time.

Dictatorships in the 21st century are different. China, in particular, does not use extreme violence against groups it wants to bury. Nowadays, it is difficult to hide the truth in an era where everything is recorded on smartphones. Therefore, the ethnic culture is erased. It destroys inherited culture such as mosques, and cuts off posterity by forcing sterility. Teach children Chinese. As a result, the Uyghurs are waiting for a future where only refugees who fled to Turkey and the United States will be left.

--What kind of explanation does the Chinese government give to Uyghur women to take birth control pills?

Kane: The description of the Chinese government goes beyond science fiction. They describe contraceptives as “science-based medicines to get rid of viruses.” A government official comes to visit you and tells you: "We must send you to a special training facility or re-education center. Your mind and body are infected with the virus of extremism, terrorism and separatism." This is a distorted wording for going to a concentration camp.

It is a system in which the Chinese Communist Party is above all, and the Communist Party leaders do not allow Uyghurs to have beliefs or a unique identity. No desires, no emotions, no senses, no judgment. I want to completely erase my identity and cover it with the shell of the Communist Party.

--In your book, you describe in detail a huge network of surveillance cameras called Skynet. What is Skynet? What equipment are you monitoring?

Kane: Skynet is a huge surveillance network operated by the Chinese government, which integrates and manages people's data.

It began to be used in 2005, and in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, it will be operated on the "Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP)". This system collects a large amount of data about each and every person in Xinjiang, literally covering every corner of their living area with cameras. The government will be able to ascertain what residents are buying, what their eating habits are, and how many children they have.

The problem is that it is ambiguous how the system makes predictions from the data. For example, if you buy diapers, the system says, "You are trustworthy." Because I'm a person who has a sense of responsibility to raise a child. On the other hand, if you buy something like a cigarette or a hammer, the system thinks you're trying to make a bomb. In other words, it is judged that terrorism thoughts and bad thoughts are beginning to sprout. This is a big threat. I can't imagine how my actions will be judged by the system. And the police can give any reason. This is the dystopia (dark society) beyond science fiction for the Uighurs.

――In your book, you focus on a Uyghur woman named Maisem, and explain what is happening in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the actual situation of Uyghur people through her daily life and experiences. Who is Masem? Why did you write a book centering on her?

Kane: Macem is a very smart woman in her twenties. I met her in the process of interviewing her when I was in Turkey. Her intelligence is what got me interested in her. Her way of looking at the world and culture was wonderful. She saw the current situation in Xinjiang through her understanding of literature and history. In the light of human experience, "Is the event that the Uighurs are experiencing something that happened in the past, or is it a completely new phase?"

She also had the ability to go back in time and recount the process of her fear experience. Just how much pain had driven her soul into a corner. Her experience was a true dystopian novel.

――Maisem, who is judged to be disobedient to the Chinese government, is sent to a facility called a re-education center.

Kane: In all concentration camps, detention centers and re-education centers, all Uyghurs go through the same experience. First, they are taken to a police station and their faces are covered so that they cannot be seen. After that, you are put on a car or a motorcycle and taken to a huge prison-like complex where you don't know where. There is always an iron door leading to a long corridor flanked by walls with communist slogans. Once you have registered for the camp at reception, you will be placed in a cell.

Many of the camps are overcrowded, with 1.8 million people reportedly in the camps. This makes up about 10% of the ethnic minority population in China.

Twenty to forty people are squeezed into a cell the size of a small apartment living room. A situation in which it is difficult to stand or sleep. People sometimes use a bucket placed in the room as a toilet. You will be monitored by cameras wherever you are. Can you imagine the horror? This process continues until you give up your identity and give your soul to the Communist Party.

Some classes involve solving strange and incomprehensible games. For example, at one end of the table is a model house and garden, and at the other end are small models of various guns. "First, arrange the models such as houses correctly. Then arrange the various types of guns correctly." The Uyghurs are confused about how to arrange them. The correct answer is to never touch those gun models. If you touch it, you will be identified as a terrorist and put in a cell or tortured.

This game is very common in concentration camps and is intended to subvert normal thinking and analytical abilities.

――In addition to this, the Chinese government is sending 1 million government officials to Uyghur homes under the title of “movement to become a family,” he wrote in his book. What does that mean.

Kain: This is the most terrifying and creepy attempt. I was astonished when I first found out. “Become a Family Movement” sends Communist Party members to Uyghur and ethnic minority families to take the place of families taken to concentration camps, live with them and teach them how to be true patriots. . While you're eating together, the Communists are talking propaganda, testing, and keeping an eye on you.

Also, communists sleep in the same bed as the women in their household. It is specified to the distance when sleeping. Her husband was put in a concentration camp and is absent. This is a clear threat of sexual harassment. They are not allowed to refuse or complain. If they resist, the Communists will make up false stories and report them, and they will be sent to concentration camps. The position of the Uyghur people is so weak.

――Various testimonies from many Uyghurs are recorded in the book. How risky did they confide in an American journalist? Also, how dangerous was it for Mr. Kane himself to enter China, gather information there, and interview people?

Kane: The hardest part of writing and researching the book was that I had to do everything in my power to protect the witnesses. Even though they themselves were asylum seekers in another country, there are still Uyghur family members in China.

So I asked them to speak anonymously. What I wrote in the book is true and not a lie at all. However, there is a part that intentionally deformed the information a little. In order to obscure the timeline of the events, we made the timing of the events ambiguous.

We also focused on cyber security measures. My computer may be targeted, and the recording of the interview may be stolen. If the voice is heard, the witness will split.

Interviews with Uyghur communities in Turkey reveal that there are many spies and informants lurking there. However, it is difficult to tell who is the agent of the Chinese government and who is a free-speaking Uyghur. So I did a detailed fact check. I carefully verified whether their words were true or not.

However, despite my efforts, China's intelligence is very formidable. I have tried my best to protect the Uyghurs who testified, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to do so. There have been instances when the Chinese government hired hitmen to kill former spies. It is very dangerous for Uighurs to talk about their experiences. (Composition: Ayumi Takano)