Uyghur human rights advocates are criticizing Harvard University for training officials from a Chinese paramilitary organization sanctioned by the U.S. government for human rights abuses, including mass detention and forced labor in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Officials from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) participated in Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s executive training programs in 2023 and 2024, according to research by the China-focused business intelligence firm Strategy Risks. The program, delivered in partnership with China’s National Healthcare Security Administration, focused on health insurance governance and public health policy. Strategy Risks’ findings were later reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the XPCC in July 2020 under the Global Magnitsky Act, citing the organization’s central role in implementing mass surveillance, internment, and forced labor policies targeting Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The sanctions prohibit U.S. individuals and institutions from engaging in most forms of cooperation with the XPCC.
