昨天听一则VOA的新闻，关于新疆棉和所谓“强迫劳动”的问题。这个问题已被西方媒体反复报道。
一些人看外媒文章很容易轻信，主要原因可能是外媒更注重宣传技巧，披上一层了“客观公正”的外衣。
例如这篇VOA新闻。在输出观点时，援引来自第三方研究机构（Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University）的研究人员（Researchers）的报告和说法，再配上一些似是而非的图片（这里已省略），加上一些未经证实细节和数据。然后，继续援引其它国家机构或人员的看法，例如文中人权组织（rights group）和美国（banned the import of cotton products from Xinjiang），相互佐证。
同时，也给反方说话的机会（以示我虽然不同意你观点，依然保护你说话权利）。例如中国官方说法(China describes the detention camps as training centers…)，以及代表官方的中国外交部发言人赵立坚的回应(He says that Uyghur forced labor is “the biggest lie of the century”)。但不会展示反方完整的逻辑、证据和支撑材料。反方观点显得苍白无力，越否认越像是在辩解或撒谎。
相比之下，国内媒体只会将不喜欢的内容直接“和谐”掉，将话语权拱手交给了别人。
一些西方媒体对他们眼中的反派人物或代表的直接采访，很有意思。可以教会我们如何客观看待复杂议题，如何argue。代表性的有：BBC对白俄罗斯总统卢卡森科的采访（Belarus leader Lukashenko tells BBC the country may have helped migrants into the EU）、BBC对阿塞拜疆总统的采访（Nagorno-Karabakh: President Ilham Aliyev speaks to the BBC, Azerbaijani president responds to BBC’s crackdown claims）、NBC对叙利亚总统巴沙尔的采访（Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad: Exclusive Interview）、NBC对俄罗斯总统普京的采访（Exclusive:Full interview with Russian President Vladimir）、DW对中国高志凯先生的采访（’This is not a concentration camp’: Analyst Victor Gao on China’s Uighur prisons）。这些内容都可以在Bilibili和youtube上找到。
Report: China Uses Forced Uyghur Labor in Supply Chain
（图 1） FILE - A worker packages cotton at a Huafu Fashion plant, as seen during a government organized trip for foreign journalists, in Aksu in western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, April 20, 2021.
A new report says more than 100 international companies are “at risk” of selling cotton products made by Uyghur forced laborers in China’s far western Xinjiang area.
The report is called “Laundering Cotton, How Xinjiang Cotton obscured in International Supply Chains.” It says China’s industry hides where the cotton comes from.
Researchers with the Helena Kennedy Center for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University in England wrote the report.
The researchers found that five major Chinese fabric suppliers are using cotton from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The suppliers export their partly finished goods to international middle manufacturers. They then ship finished cotton products to companies all over the world, including the United States.
The report mapped likely supply chains that connect Xinjiang cotton to over 100 international companies.
Laura Murphy is the lead writer of the report. She teaches human rights at Sheffield Hallam University. She says around 85 percent of China’s cotton is produced in Xinjiang, where leaders are accused of forcing labor on Uyghur people.
Murphy told VOA that local Chinese officials push people, sometimes whole villages, to give up their land. They are then considered extra labor by the government and are made more vulnerable to state-backed labor changes.
Uyghurs are mostly Muslim. About 12 million Uyghurs live in Xinjiang. Since early 2017 rights groups and other experts estimate that over 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been detained in camps across the area. Rights groups have also accused China of forcing many Uyghurs into labor once they get released.
(图 2) Police officers stand at the entrance of the Urumqi No. 3 Detention Center in Dabancheng in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on April 23, 2021. Urumqi No. 3 is China’s largest detention center and has room for at least 10,000 prisoners. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
The report says some of the places where the cotton was processed were “… nearby or within a prison or camp.”
China describes the detention camps as training centers. The Chinese government says the country does not force labor on Uyghurs and its job training is to decrease poverty and help Uyghurs.
Earlier this year, the United States banned the import of cotton products from Xinjiang. It says China uses forced labor in cotton production and other products.
Zhao Lijan is China’s foreign ministry spokesperson. He says that Uyghur forced labor is “the biggest lie of the century” made by some Western countries to slow China’s development.
The report found that 52 percent of China’s exported cotton products are shipped to 53 middle manufacturers in several countries. They include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Mexico. The cotton-based clothing is then supplied to 103 well-known international companies.
The report noted that many international companies may unknowingly be purchasing goods made by Uyghur forced labor.
Murphy said companies need to follow where their materials come from to be sure they are not supporting an economy of forced labor.
Murphy told VOA, “Sometimes suppliers may hide their sourcing or combine different sources of cotton.”
Murphy said some companies are actively investigating all of their suppliers to make sure that no Xinjiang cotton makes it into their products. Other companies, Murphy said, “would prefer simply not to know.” Not knowing, she added, is “getting more difficult with international pressure, new research and import legislation.”
Murphy added that there is no excuse for companies not knowing where their products come from.
