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More than 100 writers and human rights organisations have written an open letter calling for a boycott of Worldcon 2023 in Chengdu, China. Here’s why.
As an activist who, only one month ago, organised a protest over the Beijing Winter Olympics in light of the Uyghur genocide, I was stunned by the writing community’s support of the Chengdu 2023 Worldcon bid. It is not rare for authors to get involved in politics, as evidenced by well-known authors such as Stephen King, Joe Abercrombie, Holly Black, and more announcing their intentions not to renew their releases with Russian publishers in support of Ukraine. However, in the case of Chengdu, China – no one resisted.
In China, more than 1.5 million Uyghurs and other Turkic populations have been systematically detained in concentration camps. Reports have documented that within Uyghur concentration camps, millions are subject to severe physical, sexual, and mental torture, forced labour on a vast scale, and forced sterilisation. The Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) has criminalised Muslim practices; destroyed mosques, shrines, graveyards, banned the Uyghur language, separated families from over 800,000 children, and created a digital gulag to eradicate Uyghur identity using advanced surveillance technology and DNA sampling. This are just several of a long list of crimes the PRC is committing. This is a real atrocity that Uyghurs are facing in the country that won the bid for Worldcon.
Unfortunately, just as Uyghurs’ and Muslims’ concerns were dismissed about the Beijing Winter Olympics, our outcries about Worldcon are being gaslit, ignored, or shut down, even as China’s persecution against its minorities is only increasing.
Our characters work to overthrow cruel empires; they are the heroes that protect their culture and societies against invasion, injustices and genocide. How can the one of the world’s most prestigious writing awards celebrate science fiction’s best stories while millions of Uyghurs are subject to severe persecution?
In recent years, China’s crackdown against Uyghur intellectuals detained thousands of artists and writers in the brutal concentration camps. Cultural erosion plays a significant role in erasing Uyghur culture. For instance, the Kashgar Publishing House in the Uyghur region underwent mass censorship, where a 30-year veteran Uyghur editor and dozens of Uyghur staff members were arrested after releasing “problematic books” containing “improper political content”.
Sixty-year-old Memetjan Abliz Boriyar has worked as a manager and editor since 1987. But he was taken into custody for approving more than 100 books that were later blacklisted by the Chinese government. These books included texts about the Uyghur language and Uyghur children’s literature. Haji Mirzahid Kerimi, an 82-year-old former editor for the Kashgar Publishing House and a celebrated poet amongst the community, wrote Uyghur stories. Kerimi’s acceptance speech during an awards ceremony was called “problematic,” and he was sentenced to over a decade in prison. Kerimi died while detained for his ethnicity, written works and because of, ironically, a writing awards ceremony.
Abduweli Ayup of the Ujlep organisation has since documented lists of imprisoned Uyghur intellectuals, artists, editors, and writers of Uyghur or Turkic origin. In this backdrop, Chengdu will be hosting Worldcon.
Supporting and attending Worldcon 2023 makes us hypocrites. Writers create characters that oppose entrenched power structures, malicious regimes, status quos and utopias. In science fiction, we use our fiction to draw parallels about reality, unchecked uses of technologies, persecution and surveillancing. Our characters work to overthrow cruel empires; they are the heroes that protect their culture and societies against invasion, injustices and genocide. How can one of the world’s most prestigious writing awards celebrate science fiction’s best stories while millions of Uyghurs are subject to severe persecution? How can we celebrate China’s sci-fi scene when artists, writers and intellectuals of its ethnic minorities are interned in camps or in exile, unable to attend?
Among Chengdu Worldcon’s guests of honour are Sergei Lukyanenko, a bestselling sci-fi writer who has constantly defended Russia’s Ukraine policy, and Liu Cixin, an internationally bestselling Chinese sci-fi writer who was recently hired for SenseTime as a director of Science Fiction Planet Research Center – a tech company that is using sci-fi research to develop immersive artificial intelligence. SenseTime—along with four other firms—is responsible for creating mass surveillance AI systems used to identify and police Uyghurs, Tibetans and other Turkic populations in China. The US has even banned investments into SenseTime for its prominent role in the genocide. The advanced systems include facial and voice recognition, DNA sampling, and racial profiling; these factors are directly responsible for widening the scope of the genocide. But SenseTime is not the only company. Chengdu has invested billions in sci-fi research to attract writers, creators, animation departments, and tech start-ups; these same companies create advanced AI that are is being used to persecute China’s Muslim minorities.
Chengdu is an emerging global sci-fi capital of China, but supporting the sci-fi scene there contributes to the genocide and mass policing of ethnic minorities.
While the protests of Uyghur Muslims are often scapegoated as Western biases, this is gaslighting in the face of our advocacy. Racism and Sinophobia exist, but it should not be mistaken for Uyghur activism. We cannot compare China’s censorship to the comfort we have at home—while I am critical of the country I live in, it is because I am allowed to publish writings about the atrocity my state has committed and the Islamophobic laws my government passes. We cannot compare our privilege to existing mass-wide censorship, intellectual artistic crackdowns, concentration camps and genocide – that undercuts the horrific scale and speed at which this genocide is transpiring.
Stand with the Chinese community, and also stand with Muslim minorities. We must listen to the people of China – but the people of China also include the millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic peoples who are demanding solidarity.
As we support people of oppressed populations, we must be conscious of our double standards in the face of human rights atrocities. We cannot ignore the growing instances of Islamophobia in our industry, with the Jeddah bid to host Worldcon that was swiftly shut down; and Raytheon partly funding Worldcon 2021— the same corporation responsible for developing military weaponry used to massacre Middle Easterners in overseas invasions.
I encourage writers to support an amendment to the Worldcon constitution – whereby future bidding cities must not be allowed to bid if an ongoing genocide (recognised by either verified tribunals, parliaments, governments, or international human rights organisations) is taking place within their region. And if anyone attends Worldcon 2023, educate yourself on the reality for Uyghurs — especially Uyghur writers; encourage productive panels and discourse on diversity, religious minorities, state surveillance, technologies and its role in sci-fi. Many Chinese writers support our 2023 Worldcon boycott but are unable to publicise this due to the risks – which is another case in point about China’s mass censorship. Even my own experiences living and working in China as a visible Muslim forced me to censor my own actions, speech and religious practices.
There is an open letter protesting and calling for a boycott of Worldcon 2023. Signatories include Angie Thomas, N K Jemisin, Martha Wells, Kate Elliott, G Willow Wilson, S A Chakraborty, Zoraida Córdova, Tochi Onyebuchi, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Jeannette Ng, Tracy Deonn, Usman T Malik, and prominent Uyghur writers such as Tahir Hamut Izgil. We are still taking signatures to show that this is an issue that the entire community cares about. We must take action now, unlike Beijing 2022. The link to the letter is here, signed by 100+ global bestselling authors and human rights organisations: t.co/p4Ev6NKrqs