Vicky Xu Explained

Vicky Xu
Native Name:许微其
Native Name Lang:zh
Birth Name:许秀中 (Xǔ Xiùzhōng)
Birth Place:Jiayuguan City, Gansu, China
Occupation:Journalist, Policy Analyst
Workplaces:Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Main Interests:Human rights in China
Notable Works:Uyghurs for Sale (2020)

Vicky Xu (; born 1994[1]), formerly known as Vicky Xiuzhong Xu,[2] is a China-born Australian journalist and writer. She is best known for investigative work on human rights abuses in China.[3] [4] During and after college, she wrote for the New York Times from Beijing, Melbourne, and Sydney.[5] In 2020, Xu authored the report, Uyghurs for Sale, stating many Uyghurs from Xinjiang had been moved to China proper for forced labour.[6] This report was widely read and cited by media outlets, legislations and prosecutors in Australia, the US and Europe.[7] [8] [9] [10]

Xu regularly appears on Australian television and radio, primarily in her capacity as a China expert and commentator.[11] In 2020 she debated with Xining Wang, China's then Deputy Head of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Australia on Australian national television, marking the first and only recorded live debate between a senior Chinese government representative and a PRC citizen. (Xu has since relinquished her Chinese citizenship.)[12]

Around April 2021 the Chinese government launched an unprecedented campaign of transnational repression against Xu, which included the interrogation and detention of her close friend,[13] rolling media coverage in the Chinese language accusing Xu of "treason", drug consumption, and promiscuity.[14] Some articles referred to Xu as a "demon".[15] During an Australian parliamentary hearing in 2023, Xu revealed that the campaign had cost her relationship with family and friends in China, and that the "sheer quantity" of threats and hate messages rendered her "powerless" for a period of time.[16]

Early life

Xu was born in Jiayuguan City, Gansu Province, China.[3]

Education in China

Xu's high school is No. 3 Middle School of Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company(嘉峪关市酒钢三中).[17] In 2012, Xu entered the Communication University of China in Beijing.[18] In a gap year in 2014, Xu travelled to Perth, teaching Mandarin at a suburban high school. At this point she was a CCP supporter. However, she began to question her views on Chinese politics after watching former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy's documentary about reporting on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.[19]

Study in Melbourne and Jerusalem

Abandoning her studies in Beijing, Xu became an undergraduate in Political Science at the University of Melbourne with an exchange semester at Harry S. Truman Research Institute.[20] At this time, Xu was openly supportive of the CCP.[21] However, after interviewing a Chinese dissident, Wu Lebao, for an assignment, Xu began to review her previous positions.

Career

After leaving China, Xu has worked as a journalist for Australian and US media, and performed stand-up comedy. More recently, she has served as a policy analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Journalist, comedian, analyst

During her studies, Xu wrote as a freelancer for The New York Times in Beijing[22] and Sydney.[23] [24]

After her graduation in 2018, Xu worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), The New York Times and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.[25] [26] [27] [4] Xu's reports have covered such topics as Australia–China relations, human rights abuses in China, and Australia's diaspora communities.[28] [29]

Parallel to a successful career in investigative journalism, Xu moonlighted as a stand-up comedian in Sydney, working alongside prominent groups such as The Chaser and appearing on skits produced by the national broadcaster ABC.[30] [31]

On a TV panel discussion in February 2020, Xu debated Wang Xining, the deputy head of China’s embassy in Australia[32] over China's treatment of Uyghurs.[33] [34] In March, as the lead author on the report Uyghurs for Sale, Xu documented evidence showing that Chinese authorities were displacing Uyghur people from Xinjiang to other regions in China, then using them as forced labor, often to manufacture goods for global brands such as Adidas, Apple, BMW and Nike. The report became a basis for statements by US government agencies, along with European and Canadian universities, against Chinese mistreatment of ethnic and religious minorities.[35] [36] [37] Xu has criticised the Australian government for not recognizing the Uyghur human rights crisis as genocide.[38] She has also been critical of some China hawks, such as Sharri Markson for basing their views of China and the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic on conspiracy theories.[39]

Targeting and harassment

By 2019, Xu and her family were being actively harassed, with calls for her father, from whom she is now estranged, to be "punished" with exile on account of his daughter's views. When visiting her dying grandmother, she was warned not to return to China. In 2021, a four-part exposé about her private life was created.[40]

In January 2021, Allen & Unwin announced plans to publish Xu's upcoming memoir, You're So Brave.[41]

In April 2021, during a nation-wide smear campaign, the Chinese state media called her a traitor, a pawn controlled by the West, or a "female demon."[42] Queries for her name turn up thousands of results, including videos claiming to reveal details of her dating life, calling her "promiscuous" and "drug infested". Internet users in China made death threats and called for her family to be tracked down.[43] On an Australian news panel, Xu disclosed that harassment has extended beyond her, that: "people close to me who still live in China have been targeted by Chinese intelligence operatives. People close to me have been interrogated repeatedly and detained. They're paying a price for me to tell the truth here."

By 2024, Xu disclosed she had been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of persecution by the Chinese security apparatus; frequently being followed, and her home under Chinese surveillance.[44] She was living in Taiwan, by which time she had reopened some social media accounts that she had closed after the previous trolling.[45] She also has changed her name from Xu Xiuzhong (许秀中) to Xu Weiqi (许微其).

Vicky Xu also claims on X that she has been physically assaulted by the Australian police during a protest related to China in June 2024.[46]

In July 2024, ABC news reported that Xu alleged that AFP officers had informed her of a foreign interference plot against her but instructed her to stay silent. Xu later posted a message from her AFP liaison officer stating that communication would cease, leading her to feel abandoned. Despite AFP's explanation that the officer was on long-term leave, Xu has not received new contact information and believes her earlier criticism of the police for assaulting her in June, had led to the cutoff. In contrast, Drew Pavlou, also a suspected target of a foreign interference operation, maintained his AFP contact despite speaking out. Xu expressed her anger publicly on X at being ignored, and criticized the AFP for not providing adequate protection.[47]

References

  1. Web site: 移居海外又反华的许秀中，不过是颗棋子而已. live. 2021-04-12. 中国日报. zh. 2021-04-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20210412100617/https://cn.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202104/03/WS6068042ea3101e7ce9747720.html.
  2. News: 2024-06-06 . "前"许秀中习武想成为"女小龙" 只身直面国家暴力 . 2024-06-10 . Radio Free Asia.
  3. Web site: 2020-03-08. Vicky thought the Tiananmen Square massacre was fake. Then her world changed. 2021-04-09. www.abc.net.au. en-AU. 2021-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20210408233744/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-09/vicky-xu-exposing-chinas-human-rights-abuses/11954794. live.
  4. Web site: Bonyhady. Nick. 2019-09-06. Outspoken journalist in Australia and father in China harassed online. 2021-04-01. The Sydney Morning Herald. en. 2021-05-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20210502164322/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/outspoken-journalist-in-australia-and-father-in-china-harassed-online-20190905-p52oau.html. live.
  5. Web site: Vicky Xiuzhong Xu - The New York Times . 2023-07-28 . www.nytimes.com . en.
  6. Web site: Uyghurs for sale. live. Australian Strategic Policy Institute. 2021-04-01. 2020-08-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20200824215335/https://www.aspi.org.au/report/uyghurs-sale.
  7. News: Fifield . Anna . 2020-02-29 . China compels Uighurs to work in shoe factory that supplies Nike . en-US . Washington Post . 2023-07-28 . 0190-8286.
  8. Web site: Dobell . Graeme . 2021-10-10 . ASPI's decades: 'Uyghurs for sale' . 2023-07-28 . The Strategist . en-AU.
  9. News: 2021-07-02 . Fashion Retailers Face Inquiry Over Suspected Ties to Forced Labor in China (Published 2021) . The New York Times . en . 2023-07-28 . Paton . Elizabeth . Gallois . Léontine . Breeden . Aurelien .
  10. Web site: McCaul Statement on 'Uyghurs for Sale' Report . 2023-07-28 . Committee on Foreign Affairs . en.
  11. Web site: The personal cost of exposing human rights issues Vicky Xu on Australian Story Now living in Australia, the Chinese journalist who exposed "modern slavery" in big-brand factories in China has been told it's not safe for her to... By ABC TV + iview - Facebook . 2023-07-28 . www.facebook.com . en.
  12. News: McGowan . Michael . 2020-02-24 . Q&A: Chinese diplomat grilled over Uighurs and coronavirus response . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-07-28 . 0261-3077.
  13. News: 2021-04-15 . China's intimidation tactics laid bare in accusations by Q+A panellist Vicky Xu . en-AU . ABC News . 2023-07-28.
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  15. Web site: 2023-07-27 . 一个售卖肉体和灵魂的人——澳大利亚反华女妖许秀中美国澳洲_网易订阅 . 2023-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230727155233/https://www.163.com/dy/article/G36KA6P80551MFOX.html . 27 July 2023 .
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  21. Web site: When is name-calling good? If it raises awareness of Xinjiang cotton and abuses, says Australian-Chinese ｜ Apple Daily. 2021-04-09. Apple Daily 蘋果日報. zh-hk. 2021-04-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20210407131030/https://hk.appledaily.com/news/20210407/WS5OTEG5PJE6PMFWMA754PRLMI/. live.
  22. News: Xu . Vicky . Sneaking Into a Chinese Village Where Floodwater and Unrest Linger . 15 August 2021 . The New York Times . August 8, 2016.
  23. News: Cave. Damien. 2017-09-21. The New York Times in Australia? Yes. Here's Why.. en-US. The New York Times. 2021-04-09. 0362-4331. 2021-03-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210319203123/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/world/australia/faq-nytaustralia-bureau.html. live.
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  25. Web site: 2020-03-08. Vicky thought the Tiananmen Square massacre was fake. Then her world changed. live. 2021-04-01. ABC News. en-AU. 2021-03-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20210331162646/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-09/vicky-xu-exposing-chinas-human-rights-abuses/11954794.
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  28. Web site: Xu. Vicky. Xiao. Bang. 2018-04-20. What is the Falun Gong movement and does China really harvest organs?. live. 2021-04-15. ABC News. en-AU. 2021-05-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20210508122152/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-21/what-is-the-falun-gong-movement-and-does-china-harvest-organs/9679690.
  29. Web site: Xu. Vicky Xiuzhong. 2019-08-19. Blinkered Chinese nationalists are trolling me - but once I was one of them. 2021-04-16. The Sydney Morning Herald. en. 2021-05-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506135048/https://www.smh.com.au/national/blinkered-chinese-nationalists-are-trolling-me-but-once-i-was-one-of-them-20190818-p52idd.html. live.
  30. Web site: Xu . Vicky Xiuzhong . 2019-08-19 . Blinkered Chinese nationalists are trolling me - but once I was one of them . 2023-07-28 . The Sydney Morning Herald . en.
  31. Web site: The best and the worst of Lunar New Year Comedians Vicky Xu and Michael Hing talk us through their Lunar New Year traditions. How does your family celebrate? By ABC Sydney Facebook . 2023-07-28 . www.facebook.com . en.
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  35. Web site: Against Their Will: The Situation in Xinjiang U.S. Department of Labor. 2021-04-09. www.dol.gov. 2021-03-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20210326022142/https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/against-their-will-the-situation-in-xinjiang. live.
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  37. Web site: Terry . Glavin. 2020-07-27. Will Canada stand with Uyghurs—and against 'modern slavery?'. 2021-04-09. Macleans.ca. en. 2021-04-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20210411020353/https://www.macleans.ca/news/world/will-canada-stand-with-uyghurs-and-against-modern-slavery/. live.
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  39. Web site: 2021-05-11. Contentious COVID-19 bioweapon book has familiar researcher. 2021-05-19. Australian Financial Review. en. 2021-05-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210519014454/https://www.afr.com/rear-window/contentious-covid-19-bioweapon-book-has-familiar-researcher-20210511-p57qvc. live.
  40. News: Whinnet. Ellen. 16 January 2021. Vicky Xu Embarrassed China by Exposing Human Rights Abuses Here's How They Hit Back. The Daily Telegraph. 9 April 2021. 25 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210625184332/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Fvicky-xu-embarrassed-china-by-exposing-human-rights-abuses-heres-how-they-hit-back%2Fnews-story%2F62682723a99c6f525bbde441ad601416&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&nk=859003b9e34bc2e94b0bfe460618a05c-1624646612. live. subscription.
  41. Web site: A&U acquires Xu memoir 'You're So Brave' . Books+Publishing. 2021-04-09. en-AU. 2021-01-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20210123104628/https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/01/13/161247/au-acquires-xu-memoir-youre-so-brave/. live.
  42. Web site: Harassment and Sanctions Aimed at Uyghurs and Xinjiang Researchers . China Digital Times . 15 August 2021. 8 April 2021 .
  43. News: Kuo . Lily . Shih. Gerry. China researchers face abuse, sanctions as Beijing looks to silence critics . 15 August 2021 . Washington Post . April 7, 2021.
  44. News: Xu . Vicky . 6 April 2024 . How it feels to live under surveillance by China . The Saturday Paper.
  45. Web site: Australian journalist Vicky Xu starts a new life in Taiwan. Hsia. Hsiao-hwa. Radio Free Asia. 6 June 2024. 8 June 2024.
  46. Web site: Xu . Vicky . 2 July 2024 . Vicky Xu X Australian Police Assault Claim . 5 July 2024 . X.
  47. News: 2024-07-06 . 'You guys suck': Target of suspected foreign interference campaign says AFP cut off contact after complaint and tweet . 2024-07-07 . ABC News . en-AU.

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