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Jo Smith Finley

@jsmithfinley.bsky.social
182 followers 61 following 18 posts

Reader in Chinese Studies, Newcastle University, UK. Sinologist/Social anthropologist/Political scientist. I study the Uyghur region (a.k.a Xinjiang, NW China).

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Reposted by Jo Smith Finley
Magnus Fiskesjö @magnusfiskesjoe.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
ps. @timeshighered.bsky.social raises the red flag-but only for the UK: "foreign government interference on UK campuses" www.timeshighereducation.com/news/sheffie... But China silencing us by weaponizing their students, is a live threat against the whole world, all our universities, not just UK!
timeshighereducation.com
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Magnus Fiskesjö @magnusfiskesjoe.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Please everyone, re-read all of Laura Murphy's reports on the current slavery in China in their Uyghur genocide. How precious they are! Sheffield Hallam U actually DELETED her page at Forced Labour Lab, at the Helena Kennedy Centre, SHU! But some are still here: www.shu.ac.uk/about-us/our... 4/5
shu.ac.uk
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Magnus Fiskesjö @magnusfiskesjoe.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
This is a huge scandal -- a warning to all the world's academia, about China's brazen intimidation and shameless weaponizing of their own students in order to silence the BEST RESEARCH in our free universities. www.theguardian.com/education/20... 3/x
theguardian.com
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
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Magnus Fiskesjö @magnusfiskesjoe.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
China's Embassy in the UK openly admitting their students are now their WEAPONS: "over 200,000 Chinese students in the UK.. China the largest source of international students in the UK," adding "educational cooperation has become a driving force in bilateral ties".. yeah, and not just in the UK. 2/x
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Magnus Fiskesjö @magnusfiskesjoe.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research www.bbc.com/news/article... Shame on SHU for caving to Chinese intimidation. Even if they backed off when they were duly warned by the UK govt. But how many such horror cases of selfcensorship by universities go undetected, out of fear?
bbc.com
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Nader Hashemi and James A. Millward. 2024. ‘Lessons On Genocide From Xinjiang And Gaza’. Dawn. February 23.
dawnmena.org
Lessons on Genocide From Xinjiang and Gaza
Comparing events in Xinjiang and Gaza not only illuminates the double standard over genocide, but reveals the hole at the heart of the supposedly rules-based international order.
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Reposted by Jo Smith Finley
Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Rachel Harris. 2020. ‘Islamophobia, the Global War on Terror, and China’s policies in Xinjiang’. Society and Space. December 7.
societyandspace.org
Islamophobia, the Global War on Terror, and China’s policies in Xinjiang
What we need to understand is how and why these incidents were used to justify such massive, invasive and violent methods of control over the Muslim peoples of Xinjiang. After all, violent incidents i...
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Joanne Smith Finley. 2019. ‘The Wang Lixiong Prophecy: “Palestinization” in Xinjiang and the Consequences of Chinese State Securitization of Religion’. Central Asian Survey 38 (1): 81–101. doi:10.1080/02634937.2018.1534802
doi.org
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Daniel James Schuster. 2017. Resisting under Occupation: A Palestinian–Uyghur Comparison. Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing.
m.anchor-publishing.com
Science Publishing Hamburg - Resisting under Occupation. A Palestinian – Uyghur Comparison
This comparative study of the resistance behavior between the Palestinians and Chinese Uyghurs delineates the commonalities of the two case studies in ...
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Sean R. Roberts 2018. ‘The Biopolitics of China’s “War on Terror” and the Exclusion of the Uyghurs’. Critical Asian Studies 50 (2): 232–58. doi:10.1080/14672715.2018.1454111.
doi.org
The biopolitics of China’s “war on terror” and the exclusion of the Uyghurs
This article provides an overview of People’s Republic of China (PRC) counter-terrorism policies targeting Uyghurs since 2001 when the state first asserted that it faced a terrorist threat from thi...
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Nitasha Kaur. 2020. ‘China : Xinjiang :: India : Kashmir’. Made in China Journal 5 (2): 62–71. doi:10.22459/mic.05.02.2020.05.
madeinchinajournal.com
China : Xinjiang :: India : Kashmir
Kashmir and Xinjiang share a border. Or, more precisely, the erstwhile princely state of Kashmir that is now divided between India, Pakistan, and China (and officially known as Jammu and Kashmir and L...
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
Darren Byler and Karissa Ketter. 2024. ‘On the Travel of State Crimes by Algorithm: Chinese Camera Systems in Israel’. Made in China Journal 9(1): 18–21. doi:10.22459/MIC.09.01.2024.02.
madeinchinajournal.com
On the Travel of State Crimes by Algorithm: Chinese Camera Systems in Israel | Made in China Journal
In one of the opening scenes of Surveillance State, Josh Chin and Liza Lin (2022: 41) describe how then Xinjiang party secretary Chen Quanguo tested the response time of local police in front of a mar...
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Sense Hofstede @sensehofstede.nl · 26/07/2025
For those considering a facetious ’what about the Uyghurs’ argument against people expressing care for the desperate fate of the Palestinians, I refer to my extensive bibliography of sources that make clear many true Xinjiang experts have seen linkages from the very start.
sensehofstede.nl
Selected Academic Bibliography of Uyghur Genocide
An overview of the academic sources and serious investigative reports related to the ongoing genocide of the Uyghurs by the Chinese state. Emoji 🍐 means peer-reviewed. Bolded entries are suggested sta...
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
PLEASE SIGN. On Thursday 8th May 2025, 153 academic colleagues at Newcastle University were summoned at short notice to meetings with Uni Exec Board, where they were told they have been placed in ‘redundancy pools’ with 38 of them to be laid off. www.change.org/p/end-unnece...
change.org
Sign the Petition
End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University
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Reposted by Jo Smith Finley
Durham UCU @ducu.bsky.social · 25/05/2025
Absolutely sickening. Full solidarity with Newcastle academics.
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
BUSTED. #PRC spying on #Uyghurs in #Turkiye in aggressive act of #TransnationalRepression. The cell's leader, a Chinese citizen identified by the initials ZL, allegedly arrived in Turkey five years ago to establish the groundwork for the intelligence operation. www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-...
middleeasteye.net
Turkey busts Chinese spying ring using fake cell towers
Officials say it's the most sophisticated espionage cell uncovered and used IMSI-catcher devices to eavesdrop on Uyghur and Turkish targets in Istanbul and Izmir
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
PLEASE SIGN. On Thursday 8th May 2025, 153 academic colleagues at Newcastle University were summoned at short notice to meetings with Uni Exec Board, where they were told they have been placed in ‘redundancy pools’ with 38 of them to be laid off. www.change.org/p/end-unnece...
change.org
Sign the Petition
End unnecessary redundancies at Newcastle University
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Reposted by Jo Smith Finley
Jon Silver @invisiblemapper.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
A win (for now) but it's unlikely this struggle for our university is over
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Jon Silver @invisiblemapper.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
The workers united will never be defeated! Our strike action finishes at Sheffield after membership of our UCU branch @sheffielducu.bsky.social accept offer from management for no compulsory redundancies as a result of organisational restructures this year (and no pay deductions to be taken!)
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Een vote amongst staff shows trust in the current leadership is incredible low.
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 04/03/2025
Sign the petition to #FundHENow 👇 stopthecutspetition.org.uk
stopthecutspetition.org.uk
stopthecutspetition
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 04/03/2025
Trying to open a new campus while cutting jobs. Not a good look. Our members should not lose their livelihoods because of management can't handle the finances. 14 days of strike action started today at @newcastleucu.bsky.social 👇 With hundreds of jobs at risk we must #STOPtheCUTS.
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Donald Tusk @donald-tusk.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Dear Volodymyr Zelenskyy, dear Ukrainian friends, you are not alone.
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Magnus Fiskesjö @magnusfiskesjoe.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
UNESCO @unesconow.bsky.social promotes a scheme duping foreigners into puppets of the Chinese regime www.unesco.org/en/fellowshi... ..while China's massive destruction of Uyghur heritage continues. UNESCO's brazen complicity drags shame over the UN. @aazoulay.bsky.social @unescochairlnu.bsky.social
unesco.org
UNESCO/The People's Republic of China - The Great Wall Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme 2025-2026
Fellowship opportunities for students, researchers and professionals from developing countries to pursue one-year advanced study in China.
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UCU Newcastle University @newcastleucu.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Just to add some more interesting numbers from the annual reports...
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Uyghur Human Rights Project @uhrp.org · 24/01/2025
"The Thai government's handling of Uyghurs has become a black stain on the nation's human rights record." Critical Bangkok Post editorial on the 48 Uyghurs at risk of deportation in 🇹🇭 Thailand. www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin...
bangkokpost.com
Uyghur atonement
The surprise statement by new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging Thailand not to deport 40-plus Uyghurs who are currently being detained in Thailand to China has shone a much-needed spotlight on...
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Dale Vince @dalevince.com · 23/01/2025
A tiny 2% wealth tax, on 20k people would raise £24 billion per year to spend on the things that urgently need fixing in our country. We need some tax justice - the more money you have the less tax you pay and vice versa - that’s absurd.
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, you must now weigh in before it's too late. #Uyghurs #China #unitednationshumanrights @volker_turk @MFAThai @ingshin @ThaksinLive STOP THE DEPORTATIONS! www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
telegraph.co.uk
‘This may be my last message’: Uyghurs stage hunger strike over China deportation
A group of 48 ethnic minority Muslims who fled Chinese persecution have been held in Thailand for almost 11 years
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Uyghur Human Rights Project @uhrp.org · 22/01/2025
"There are distressing indications that protection of the group from deportation has not been [UNHCR's] top priority," said Ben Carrdus, UHRP senior researcher. New questions on UNHCR's lack of support for Uyghurs in 🇹🇭 Thailand @6oldberg.bsky.social. www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature...
thenewhumanitarian.org
Questions grow over UNHCR inaction as Uyghurs in Thailand face deportation threat
Human rights advocates are demanding to know why the UN’s refugee agency hasn’t done more to secure the Uyghurs’ right to asylum.
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
"The psychiatric department has a type of admission called 'troublemakers'". www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
China sees resurgence in psychiatric care for ‘trouble-makers’
Student among dozens who challenged China’s authorities to have been sent to psychiatric units, BBC finds.
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
Released today by the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). @MFAThai @ingshin @ThaksinLive HALT THE DEPORTATIONS. #Uyghurs #Xinjiang #China
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
These #Uyghur men who have been detained in Thailand for a decade face certain persecution (physical and mental torture) and probably death if returned to #China. Please, please can those who have the power to halt this deportation step up now.
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Uyghur Human Rights Project @uhrp.org · 13/01/2025
The new "normal" in the Uyghur region. A Uyghur woman—Seylihan Rozi—sentenced to 17 years for providing religious lessons to her two sons + a neighbor. Rozi’s sons were sentenced to seven and 10 years, and their neighbor was sentence to seven years. www.rfa.org/english/uygh...
rfa.org
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RFA Uyghur @rfauyghur.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
A human rights group has urged Thailand not to deport to China 48 Uyghurs who have languished for more than a decade in detention, saying their safety and human rights must be the priority. The Uyghur men have been held at Immigration Detention Center since 2014. www.rfa.org/english/chin...
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Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 14/01/2025
Gheni Mehet was detained in July 2017 and given 7 years for 'gathering a crowd to disturb social order', as a result of studying the Quran for a month in 2009-2010. By October 2018, he was reported as deceased. He was 30. shahit.biz/eng/39243/
shahit.biz
Entry 39243: Gheni Mehet
Gheni Mehet was a farmer. Probable address (both residential and registration are in the same group): House No. 24, Group No. 2, Yuqarqi Terim Village, Terim Township, Konasheher County (疏附县铁日木乡尤喀日可铁...
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 11/01/2025
These men have been detained in Thailand for years, and the international community, including the UN, has done very little of substance to assist them. Such is the power of China's international reach (#TransnationalRepression). apnews.com/article/uygh...
apnews.com
Uyghurs detained in Thailand say they face deportation and persecution in China
A group of Uyghurs who were detained in Thailand over a decade ago say that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists who say the men are at risk of abuse and tortur...
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Rebekah Jones @georebekah.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
ABC, NBC & CBS dedicated about 16 minutes of airtime last night to the California wildfires without once mentioning climate change. Since the news failed do it's job, here's a short summary of the role of climate change and wildfire risk: www.noaa.gov/noaa-wildfir...
noaa.gov
Wildfire climate connection
Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States during the last ...
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Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 09/01/2025
Today marks 4 years since the death of Mirzahid Kerimi (shahit.biz/eng/2517/), a famous writer and editor who had been given an 11-year sentence in recent years. He had also served 13 years during the Cultural Revolution, for a poem he wrote. He was 81-82 years old.
shahit.biz
Entry 2517: Mirzahid Kerimi
(Haji) Mirzahid Kerimi was a writer and a retired editor at the Kashgar Uyghur Press. He generally wrote about Uyghur history and historians. In 1959, when he was 20 years old, he was imprisoned for ...
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Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
$1,131,794,901 That's how much Big Oil has spent over the last 30 years paying off Congress to look the other way on climate action while the planet burns. Well, the planet is burning. Don't let them look away.
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Reposted by Jo Smith Finley
Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 23/12/2024
Adding the Aral City Pre-Trial Detention Center (阿拉尔市看守所) to our list of documented facilities: shahit.biz/eng/#facilit... This is an old and small facility in central Aral, just east of Tamen Prison, and is still active today. (1/4)
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Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 22/12/2024
Today marks 6 years since the death of Mutellip Nurmehmet (shahit.biz/eng/3379/), a former US resident who obtained master's degrees from California State University and Northeastern University. He spent around 9 months in camp in 2018, dying a week after release.
shahit.biz
Entry 3379: Mutellip Nurmehmet
Mutellip Nurmehmet earned two master’s degrees in the United States - one in business administration from California State University, and one in information systems from Northeastern University. He ...
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Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 11/12/2024
There are over 2000 elderly victims documented as serving prison terms (potential death sentences): shahit.biz/elderlysente... Name: Yalqun Rozi Age: 58 Status: serving a 15-year sentence (Bingtuan Urumqi Prison) for "separatism" in textbooks shahit.biz/eng/965/
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Emily Feng @emilyzfeng.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
"Literally, as I was being eaten by a wild beast, I wasn't thinking about Jesus or my family or my son. I was thinking my insurance was not going to pay for this," www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
independent.co.uk
Woman who lost face in bear attack on why she’s now voting for Bernie Sanders
Exclusive: Allena Hansen of California still deals with hefty medical bills nearly 12 years after getting mauled
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Xinjiang Victims Database @shahit.biz · 12/12/2024
Today marks 7 years since the death of Abdughopur Memet (shahit.biz/eng/56480/), who was detained in September 2017 for listening to "illegal" sermons in 1975 and having a beard between 2007 and 2015. He was given a prison term, but died soon after, at the age of 66.
shahit.biz
Entry 56480: Abdughopur Memet
Abdughopur Memet. Registration address: House No. 090, Group No. 3, Beshterek Village, Bulaqsu Township, Konasheher County (疏附县布拉克苏乡拜西提热克村3组090号).
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Tania Branigan @taniabranigan.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
I will be joining my colleagues at the Guardian and Observer who are on strike for 48 hours. It ends at 23.59 GMT on Friday 13 December. For more information please follow bsky.app/profile/gonu... and @NUJofficial, or visit nuj.org.uk/savetheobserver
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Heartened to see Canada, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, impose Magnitsky sanctions on 8 more individuals involved in atrocities against #Uyghurs, importantly to include former #Xinjiang #CCP Party Secretary #ChenQuanguo. Take note, PM Keir Starmer. www.canada.ca/en/global-af...
canada.ca
Canada sanctions Chinese officials for human rights violations
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (People’s Republic of China) Regulations against 8 former or current senior offi...
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Jo Smith Finley @jsmithfinley.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
3 years after #UyghurTribunal judgment that #China is committing genocide, crimes against humanity & torture in #UyghurRegion, accountability more important than ever. 2020 Reflection: Why Scholars and Activists Increasingly Fear a #Uyghur Genocide in #Xinjiang. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Why Scholars and Activists Increasingly Fear a Uyghur Genocide in Xinjiang
For the past four years, the region of Xinjiang in Northwest China has witnessed the largest forced incarceration of an ethno-religious minority anywhere in the world since the Second World War: up...
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