Under the pretence of eradicating crime, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been carrying out mass surveillance drives in its Uyghur Region, Tibet, that has led a group of global lawmakers to urge their individual governments to halt business with companies like the PRC state-backed BGI Group and US company Thermo Fisher that are supplying the PRC government with technologies to conduct biometric surveillance, Geopolitik reported.
This legislative group’s action is a huge step toward guaranteeing that any subsequent action using mass DNA collecting is outlawed.
According to Human Rights Watch, the bottom line is that these collection drives could be seen as part of ongoing efforts by Beijing to establish a police presence at the grassroots level throughout the region.
Since June 2016, the PRC government has been undertaking a massive DNA collection operation in the Tibet Autonomous Region, according to Human Rights Watch and other organizations.
It is estimated that this initiative reached up to one-third of Tibet’s total population, including many children. According to investigations, at least one American corporation, Thermo Fisher, has provided DNA profiling kits to the Tibet Autonomous Region’s police, reported Geopolitik.
Human Rights Watch’s findings also make clear how Chinese officials are conducting a systematic collection of the DNA of people living in the Tibetan Autonomous Region by drawing blood from children as young as five without their parent’s knowledge or consent.
Earlier, China used biological means to sterilize thousands of Uyghur Muslims, which has shown horrific results.
And the recent mass DNA collection drive occurring in Tibet where Human Rights Watch identified drives in 14 distinct localities across 7 prefectural-level areas indicates how wide this project is under the current regime.
Tibet under Chinese occupation has been repressed since 1949 when the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established. However, the collection of genetic material is not new to China as its ministry of public security runs the world’s largest forensic DNA database, which probably contains more than 100m profiles. This activity involves gathering samples from criminal suspects or victims of crime, similar to what western countries do.
However, the collection of genetic material is not new to China as its ministry of public security runs the world’s largest forensic DNA database, which probably contains more than 100m profiles. This activity involves gathering samples from criminal suspects or victims of crime, similar to what western countries do.
Moreover, for Tibetans, it was common knowledge that if you have family and links in Tibet, you must be apolitical even if you are personally far away from the direct clutches of Beijing’s authoritarian rule.
The reason is that your family members were immediately questioned, threatened and even sentenced due to your actions that occurs far beyond the jurisdiction of Beijing, reported Tibet Press.