Disguised as a tool “to fight crime,” the forced collection of DNA data spreads across China. Even primary and middle school students are not exempt.
by Lu Xiaojing
Since the beginning of 2016, the government of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been collecting DNA samples from Uyghurs and other Muslims to build databases for tracking and monitoring them. As this measure in the name of “maintaining social stability” spreads across mainland China, the CCP is collecting biometric data on an ever-increasing scale. All males, including young children, are now mandated to give blood samples.
Parents are worried
Residents of Guigang, Guilin, Hechi, and Cenxi cities in southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region reported to Bitter Winter that local police uniformly collected blood samples from primary and middle school boys in November. This has been done without informing their guardians.
“Isn’t it the doctor’s duty to take blood? Why did the police do it?” a parent of a primary school student asked. “Blood samples have been taken from students in many schools, as part of the government’s massive operation. No notice or written communication has been issued to parents. We felt very unsafe.”
When parents demanded to know the reasons for the collection of blood samples from their children, the schools explained that it was needed “to prevent children from being lost or abducted and sold.”
“If it is to prevent children from being lost or abducted, why have samples been taken only from boys and not girls? Because girls won’t be lost? It’s really strange!” another parent questioned the reasoning. The fact that schools were secretive and couldn’t provide adequate explanation raised even more concerns among parents. Some also worried that DNA samples will be used for organ harvesting.
“The collection of blood samples is demanded in a government-issued document, which proclaims that they will be used by law enforcement to find criminals. No matter where they escape, the police can locate them,” a teacher from Guilin city told Bitter Winter.
At least 17 schools in Guigang and Guilin cities collected blood from students, claiming that this was being done for a variety of reasons: to find these children if “they commit crimes in the future” or “are abducted and sold,” “to issue new ID cards,” “find out if they take drugs or are ill,” and alike.
Similar incidents have been reported in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. Bitter Winter obtained a document issued by the Public Security Bureau of Chongren county, under the jurisdiction of Jiangxi’s Fuzhou city, which demands the Bureau of Education and Sports to cooperate with the Public Security Bureau in collecting biological information from all the primary and middle school boys in the local area.
The Notice on Demanding Primary and Middle Schools to Cooperate in Collecting Relevant Information from Schoolboys, issued in November by the Public Security Bureau of Chongren county.
The notice states that this task, carried out nationwide, is intended to help collect information for the seventh census and the issuance of the third generation digital ID cards, aid in rapid identity authentication, and so on.
After the notice was issued, the police uniformly took blood samples from all the boys in ten local primary and middle schools.
Official media also reported about “the proactive cooperation in the task of collecting DNA samples” from students in the Baijiawan primary school in Hanshan sub-district in Shaanxi’s Hanzhong city.
All males obligated to give DNA samples
According to reports, various vague pretexts, like “free physicals” or “checking if people are taking drugs,” have been used by the police in many parts of China to take blood samples from male adults.
The Notice on Work Plan for Building Y-STR DNA Database, issued by the government of Sui county in Hubei Province in September 2018, demands to “comprehensively build an information base on male-dominated genograms, fully covering the rural area of Sui county,” “control the present situation of social order and strengthen population management through investigating clans.”
Video: Blood samples are collected from villagers in Jiangxi Province.
Several Jiangxi Province residents reported that the police demanded them to give blood samples when they asked for certificates on previous convictions (needed to take college entrance exams), applied for new ID cards, or wanted to change their residence registration. The police claimed that blood samples are required to handle all such matters.
One of these residents told Bitter Winter that the police put his blood sample in a bag with “DNA Database Personnel Information Form” written on it. A police officer said to him that after a person’s blood sample is collected, three generations of his family can be found through his DNA if any of them commits a crime.
The CCP regime often uses the collected DNA data to suppress dissidents or people of faith. In July, the police harassed the parents of a member of The Church of Almighty God who has been on the run to escape persecution and forcibly collected their blood samples, claiming that this will help them to track down the believer.
A resident from a village under the jurisdiction of Cenxi city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said that, in late October, local police officers went from household to household to collect blood samples from male villagers. The names of those who were not at home were given to assistant police officers to follow up and make sure that everyone gives blood – no one is to be missed.
Source: Bitter Winter
