Tibetans in exile hold blank papers in New Delhi, India on the 2nd of this month, expressing solidarity with the protests in China against the Wuhan pneumonia epidemic prevention and control.

(Reuters file photo)

Technical Support Violates Human Rights, Urges Countries to Suspend Contacts with Relevant Companies

[Compilation of Lin Yuxuan/Comprehensive Report] Nearly 30 members of Congress from 15 countries of the "International Parliamentary Alliance on China Policy" (IPAC) wrote to their respective foreign ministries on the 16th, requesting to investigate whether domestic companies provide technical support to the Chinese government to help them Collected DNA samples from Tibetans in Tibet on a large scale, and named American biotechnology and medical device manufacturers "Thermo Fisher" (Thermo Fisher) and BGI (BGI), and called on countries to suspend exchanges with the companies involved.

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The French "Liberation" reported that French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada have successively received joint open letters from IPAC members, The letter mentioned that they are deeply concerned about the large-scale collection of DNA samples by the Chinese government, which aims to strengthen the monitoring of ethnic minorities, especially in Tibet and Uyghur regions.

Collected samples amounted to 1/3 of the total population of Tibet

The joint letter cited the investigation report released by Human Rights Watch in September this year, pointing out that the Chinese authorities have implemented a large-scale DNA sampling program in Tibet in 2016 under the pretext of criminal investigation, and the number of samples collected so far It has reached one-third of the total population of Tibet, including many children. However, the authorities collect DNA without the consent of the person, and it has nothing to do with whether the person has committed a crime.

The Citizen Lab, a subsidiary of the Munk International Research Center at the University of Toronto, Canada, also published a report this year based on hundreds of Chinese official documents, pointing out that the DNA blood samples were collected from men and women, even kindergarten children. None of the official work reports mentioned that parents of children were consulted before DNA collection.

Name the two major biotech companies in the United States and China

The IPAC investigation, composed of more than 170 cross-party members of Congress from various countries, revealed that Thermo Fisher provided DNA analysis reagents for the Chinese police, and BGI was backed by Beijing.

In addition, research laboratories and companies in Western democracies are also involved, such as the German research database storing partial nucleic acid sequences of Tibetan men.

Engin Eroglu, a member of IPAC and a member of the European Parliament, emphasized that Beijing’s large-scale DNA collection activities clearly violate the right to privacy and human rights. National and European authorities should take immediate action to investigate companies involved in the CCP’s DNA collection activities and suspend business with them come and go.

Rigzin Choedon Genkhang, EU Representative of the Central Tibetan Administration Office in Brussels, pointed out that in May 2019, the police received instructions from their superiors not to let go of any villages or temples, and not to miss any household or individual .

Emile Dirks, author of the "Citizen Lab" report, also said that the Chinese government regards hundreds of thousands to millions of Tibetans as potential criminal suspects in the future, and uses DNA collection to exercise social control over Tibetans.