Thread by @GJosephRoche

Here are some thoughts about the recent news that ex-Blackwater founder #ErikPrince is setting up shop in #Xinjiang, and what this means for how we think about and act against the XJ concentrations camps. 1/x

So first, for those who missed the original announcement, it was made on Jan 22 and became news on Jan 31 2/x reuters.com/article/us-chi…

For those not familiar with Erik Prince, it's worth looking into his profile as his personal history and connections are significant 3/x vanityfair.com/news/2010/01/b…

After the Jan 31st story broke, Prince denied knowledge of the MOU which had been signed to establish a training centre in Xinjiang, calling it 'preliminary', and the information was taken off his company's website 4/x reuters.com/article/us-chi…

But a quick look around online shows that the plan was long in the making and was actually announced by Prince in March 2017, in the Global Times, no less. 5/x globaltimes.cn/content/103884…

The company that Prince is working in China with is called Frontier Services Group. They help companies 'succeed in frontier markets', providing security, logistics, and insurance 6/x fsgroup.com/en/index.html

Prince became chairman of the Hong-Kong based FSG in 2014, when it was called DVN Holdings 7/x scmp.com/business/compa…

FSG's goal in China is to train private security personnel, with the aim of 'turning the PLA into a private army' to protect Chinese business interests abroad: buzzfeednews.com/article/aramro…

In May of 2017, FSG acquired a 25% stake in Beijing International Security and Defense College, which trains 'anti-terrorist' and other security personnel, including, almost certainly, ppl who now work in the Xinjiang camps 9/x prnewswire.com/news-releases/…
reuters.com/article/us-chi…

But the ties to Xinjiang are deeper. On Nov 22, 2017, FSG appointed Lü Chaohai as the Head of its Northwest regional operations. Lü's former job - vice-president of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps 10/x bloomberg.com/research/stock…

So Prince was not surprised by the Jan 22 announcement - he himself announced plans to open an office in XJ in 2017, & FSG has acquired a stake in a company that trains security personnel for XJ & appointed a high-ranking XJ official to a senior role 11/x

Furthermore, FSG's work in XJ is part of its broader strategy to position itself as a security provider throughout the Belt and Road 12/x

This positioning as private security provider to the BRI is aimed not just at exploiting PRC's commercial expansions, but also at influencing US policy. Prince said so himself in a 2016 op-ed in the @SCMPNews just after Trump was elected 13/x scmp.com/comment/insigh…

Prince's efforts to influence/exploit US policy are backed by his personal connection and private wealth. Prince is the brother of US Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, and also donated 250k to Trump's campaign. 14/x forbes.com/return-of-erik…

Prince has recently been advocating that Trump should privatize the war in Syria 15/x independent.co.uk/news/world/mid…

And has also pitched a plan to privatize war in Afghanistan in order to exploit rare earth deposits. He calls that approach the 'East India Company' approach 16/x buzzfeednews.com/article/aramro…

So, with #ErikPrince advocating for US mercantile colonialism whilst also helping train the PRC's anti-terrorism personnel both in China and along the BRI, this has implications for how we think about and act against the XJ camps 17/x

First of all, we should be paying more attention to private, transnational actors, not just Prince & FSG but also the entire private paramilitary industry. What other connections exist between XJ and this industry?18/x

Understanding this is important because it helps us understand what techniques are being exchanged and circulated between carceral institutions around the world - it helps us understand what might be going on in Xinjiang when we have access to so little info there 19/x

We have very good research by @adrianzenz @jleibold showing how securitization techniques were developed in Tibet and then deployed in Xinjiang 20/x jamestown.org/program/chen-q…

And more recently @Sarah_G_Cook has demonstrated how techniques of mental 'transformation' tested on Falun Gong have been circulated into the Xinjiang camps 21/x jamestown.org/program/the-le…

We know from @andreapitzer & others that concentration camps are a technology of domination that has been developed through global circulation & iterative tweaking by states since they were first deployed by the Spanish in Cuba 22/x littlebrown.com/titles/andrea-…

So, beyond sources within the PRC, what are the transnational precursors to the XJ camps? What current models might they be drawing on? Manus? Nauru? Tender Age Shelters? Rakhine? What commercial links connect them? 23/x

Given the way these technologies circulate transnationally, and given FSG's role as a BRI private security force, I think we should also be concerned with how these camps might spread across borders. 24/x

FSG has recently started advertising to recruit personnel in Myanmar, & its website lists news about the recent MOU between Myanmar & PRC and the planned economic corridor 25/x fsgroup.com/en/news/show-4…

The corridor starts in Yunnan, where FSG has an office, and ends in Rakhine state, site of the Rohingya ethnic cleansing. Maybe we should be worried about this. 26/x

FSG has also just obtained a license to operate in Cambodia, a country that recently also accepted a pledge of USD600 million in aid from the PRC. 27/x reuters.com/article/us-cam…

Maybe we need to start worrying about how PRC money & US private paramilitary expertise might be used to 'help' nations on the BRI solve their local problems 28/x

I think this also suggests that we should be cynical about the effectiveness of lobbying the US to put pressure on China, when their commercial interests and Islamaphobic proclivities overlap so much 29/x

We might want to think about addressing the struggle to broader anti-colonial & anti-capitalist movements rather than trying to provoke a competition of moral oneupmanship between 2 great powers with shared interests in developing profitable carceral technologies 🤷‍♂️ 30/30