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Adrian Zenz (born 1974) is a German anthropologist known for his studies on the Xinjiang re-education camps. He is a lecturer in social research methodology at the Evangelical theological institution Akademie für Weltmission [de] and a senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

Zenz has been called a "far-right fundamentalist" and accused of lying and taking funding from the US government. His work has been widely quoted in the western media, but has been criticized by China.

Education

Zenz received a Master's degree in Development Studies from the University of Auckland and a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Social Anthropology with a doctoral thesis on minority education, job opportunities, and the ethnic identity of young Tibetans in western China.

Anthropology

In 2019, Zenz studied the mass detention of Uyghurs in re-education camps in Xinjiang based on Chinese government documents and spreadsheets pointing toward factories with interned workers from the internment camps. In July 2019, Zenz published a study giving a speculative upper limit to the total number of people detained at any time since late 2016 in Xinjiang re-education camps at 1.5 million, based on extrapolations from food allowance subsidies figures. In November 2019, Zenz estimated that the number of internment camps in Xinjiang had surpassed 1,000. Zenz has also published research, using public Chinese government documents found on the internet, that showed that the Chinese government has spent tens of millions of dollars since 2016 on a birth control surgery program that includes cash incentives for sterilization procedures and makes birth control violations punishable by internment in the Xinjiang re-education camps.

Zenz is the author of 'Tibetanness' Under Threat?, a study of the modern Tibetan education system. In the book, he examines the career prospects of students who major in Tibetan-language studies and the notion that the greater market value of Chinese-language education threatens Tibetan ethnocultural survival.

Theology

Zenz is a born-again Christian. He stated that he feels "led by God" in his mission.

With Marlon S. Sias, Zenz co-authored the 2012 book, "Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation".

Zenz advises doctoral students at the European School of Culture and Theology at the Akademie für Weltmission [de].

Criticisms

Adrian Zenz and his work has been repeatedly criticized by the Chinese government.

Chinese ambassador to the UK Liu Ziaoming accused Zenz of fabricating lies and called him a "far right fundamentalist", refuting his allegations in detail.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called Zenz a "far right fundamentalist Christian" and labelled his research as disinformation.

References

1. ^ Chin, Josh (21 May 2019). "The German Data Diver Who Exposed China's Muslim Crackdown". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 19 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
2. ' Tibetanness' Under Threat?
3. ^ Tiezzi, Shannon (1 December 2018). "Adrian Zenz on China's Xinjiang Re-Education Campaign". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
4. ^ "Adrian Zenz". Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
5. ^ Editorial Board (16 December 2019). "China appears to add a sickening new dimension to its treatment of Uighurs". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
6. ^ "Ambassador Liu Xiaoming Holds On-line Press Conference on China–UK Relations". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
7. ^ "China's Pushback: Beijing questions Western reporting on Xinjiang". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
8. "Adrian Zenz". Akademie für Weltmission [de]. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
9. Zenz, Adrian. "Brainwashing, Police Guards and Coercive Internment: Evidence from Chinese Government Documents about the Nature and Extent of Xinjiang's "Vocational Training Internment Camps"". Journal of Political Risk. 7 (7). Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
10. Lipes, Joshua (12 November 2019). "Expert Estimates China Has More Than 1,000 Internment Camps For Xinjiang Uyghurs". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
11. "China cuts Uighur births with IUDs, abortion, sterilization". Associated Press. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 30 June 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
12. "China forcibly sterilising Uighur women in campaign to control population, new report says". SBS News. 30 June 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
13. Zenz, Adrian (June 2020). "Sterilizations, Forced Abortions, and Mandatory Birth Control" (PDF). Jamestown Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
14. Zenz, Adrian (2013). 'Tibetanness' Under Threat?: Neo-Integrationism, Minority Education and Career Strategies in Qinghai, P.R. China. Global Oriental. ISBN 978-9004257962.
15. Zenz, Adrian; Sias, Marlon L. (November 2012). Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation. WestBow Press. ISBN 978-1-4497-6906-2.
16. "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on July 9, 2020". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
17. CNN, Ben Westcott. "Chinese government disputes Xinjiang detention records leaked to CNN". CNN. Retrieved 2020-08-13. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
18. "What's False and What's True on China-related Human Rights Matters". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
19. "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on June 30, 2020". www.fmprc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2020-08-13.

External links

• Interview with NPR

• German anthropologists
• 1974 births
• German sinologists
• Living people
• 21st-century anthropologists
• University of Auckland alumni
• Alumni of the University of Cambridge