Oxford Publisher Investigates Papers in Chinese-Funded Journal After Concerns Over Use of Uyghur DNA

A facility believed to be a reeducation camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, in Artux, north of Kashgar in China's western Xinjiang region, on June 2, 2019. (Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images)

Oxford University Press (OUP) is investigating three journal articles on forensic science that used genetic data from the Uyghur and Xibe ethnic groups in China.

The articles have been flagged by a Belgian academic, who questioned the validity of consent cited in the studies.

OUP published expression of concern statements about the papers on Monday and Tuesday.

According to The Times of London, the publisher also said the Forensic Sciences Research journal is owned by a Chinese state-owned academy and Chinese funding for the journal will continue for an “initial period.”

Two of the three papers were published before OUP acquired the journal.

One article analysed DNA data from 264 Uyghur people from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and stated that all biological samples had been “taken with written informed consent.”

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However, Yves Moreau, a Belgian professor who researches mass surveillance technology and forenisc DNA databases, told the BBC’s “Science In Action” programme on Feb. 1 that it’s not realistic to get free and informed consent in Xinjiang, “where you could be sent to a reeducation camp basically just on a whim.”

In 2021, a London-based independent people’s tribunal, led by Sir Geoffrey Nice, KC, found that the Chinese communist regime, through an array of repressive acts including mass internment, family separation, sterilizations, and forced labor, had implemented a “deliberate, systematic, and concerted policy” to lower the Uyghur population in the region.

The authors of the research paper were from the University of Copenhagen’s forensic genetics department, but one of them, Halimureti Simayijiang, was also affiliated with Xinjiang Police College.

The University of Copenhagen told The Guardian in December that Mr. Simayijiang had left the university after submitting this article, as well as one other article which he had coauthored with the same colleagues and one other author, and which had been retracted by publisher Elsevier.

In a statement published on Monday, OUP said the editors and the publisher received concerns over the research in late 2023, and alerted readers that “pending the outcome of the full investigation, concerns have been raised about this article.”

Two other articles under OUP review used genetic data from the Xibe people, a smaller ethnic group in China.

OUP said it received concerns over the articles in January, in statements published on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

The articles were both coauthored by Chinese researchers affiliated with the Criminal Investigation Police University of China and the Academy of Forensic Science, which belongs to the Ministry of Justice in China.

A spokeswoman for OUP confirmed to The Times of London that the Chinese state-run academy provides funding for and owns the Forensic Sciences Research journal.

“The costs of publishing the journal are incurred by Oxford University Press with financial support from the owner of Forensic Sciences Research, the Academy of Forensic Science, which is based in China,” the statement reads.

The report said the arrangement involving China has been in place before OUP took over the journal and OUP has maintained the arrangement for over a year. The Epoch Times has not independently verified the information.

OUP said the Chinese funding would remain in place for an “initial period,” according to The Times of London, which filed a Freedom of Information request about the arrangement.

In December, Duarte Nuno Vieira, the co-editor-in-chief of Forensic Sciences Research, rejected the suggestion that Chinese funding may have affected the journal’s editorial policies, according to The Guardian.

The Epoch Times approached OUP for comment.

Michael Washburn contributed to this report.