Here's a Twitter thread to record and flesh out some of the ideas that came out of yesterday's Twitter space on debunking anti-China propaganda.

@GenieTango @SClemmt @taro_taylor @jynpang @JayChacko (Guys, please tag others that you remember being in the Twitter space too). 1. There's consensus that China is inept at countering the West's orientalist propaganda and war propaganda. (@CarlZha's pet hate.) Such ineptness is dangerous because, for truth and peace to prevail, the global marketplace of ideas requires adept opposition.

Just a reminder that in the lead-up to publishing the fourth CO-WEST-PRO paper on the OHCHR's Xinjiang report, I will be taking part in Twitter spaces to talk about the first three CO-WEST-PRO papers. Today's Twitter space is at 4pm Beijing time. Link to Twitter space:

https://twitter.com/GenieTango/status/1664455946389839873

Given that Australia's anti-China propaganda has been in overdrive these last few days, I thought it would be timely to announce the new project I'll be launching next month... CO-WEST-PRO English Language Education.
1/ There's an urgent need for Western propaganda literacy now, and I'm doing my bit by utilising my skills and qualifications (a Master in #TESOL). Each fortnight I will be publishing #ESL lessons about Western propaganda for free on my site for ESL learners in the global south.
2/

CO-WEST-PRO's new working paper is out today: "The Uyghur Tribunal: People's Justice or Show Trial?"
I've taken a different approach with this paper to my last two. This time I leave it to the readers to answer the title's question.
1/
cowestpro.co/papers Given CO-WEST-PRO is a one-person show, I need to come up with a new method for publishing more papers per year (3 a year isn't a viable model). So I've decided to trial writing papers that highlight key issues instead of undertaking full & comprehensive analyses.
2/

I've had a quick look at Bachelet's report this morning on the forced labour issue. I'm glad she focused on the key document that I did in my 2nd CO-WEST-PRO paper - the Chinese Govt's White Paper (which ASPI, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch did not). 1/ The screenshot below is of Bachelet's summary. This is not the win that ASPI, in their heart-of-hearts, would have hoped for. Bachelet's report ends with questions, not answers. 2/

Hi @tomcanetti. I got your question for the hit piece you are likely planing on doing on me for @SBSNews. I'll answer your McCarthyite question here on Twitter to make it harder for you to misrepresent me. 1/ No I don't receive any funding from the Chinese Govt et. al., and I resent the accusatory question. How about ask a real investigative question, like what motivated me to sacrifice months of my life without pay to take on ASPI? 2/

Due to the amount of attention I’m getting for my legal analysis of ASPI’s “Uyghurs For Sale” report, I thought I would create this thread summarising the main points of my paper…

https://twitter.com/RobbieBarwick/status/1559856924530999296

1. The body of the ASPI report contains no legal definition for forced labour (it's tucked away in an endnote instead). For this reason alone, the ASPI report can be tossed aside as junk research not meeting academic and legal research standards.

Well, folks, I'm back to report on what went down at ASPI. First off, I met ASPI's Executive Director, @BassiJustin. On a personal level, he seems like a nice guy. Meeting him helped humanise him for me. However, we had a strong disagreement about... 1/ ...what makes quality research. I wanted to stick to facts, evidence, law and reason, whereas Justin wanted to stick to opinion. His opinion is that these photos are of a Xinjiang concentration camp, not a high school. I was disappointed he wouldn't concede. 2/

Hi @xu_xiuzhong. It's been brought to my attention that you viewed my earlier message to you as a death threat or rape threat, or a show of support of death threats or rape threats. I just want to categorically make clear that that was definitely NOT what my message meant. 1/5 I've never made such threats to anyone, nor would I ever support such threats. You certainly have my sympathy for the shocking sexual harassment you received in 2020, which I think you handled admirably. Your critics should be attacking your work, not your personhood. 2/5

CO-WEST-PRO’s first working paper is out today!
“The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s 'Uyghurs for Sale' Report: Scholarly Analysis or Strategic Disinformation?”
#ASPI #WorkRights4Uyghurs #bizhumanrights #humanrights
cowestpro.co/papers
(1/4) There isn’t a strong tradition in Australia of grass-roots legal activism, so don’t expect, just because CO-WEST-PRO’s paper is a strong legal analysis of ASPI’s work, that it will be acted upon by Australian institutions (parliament, universities, etc.)
(2/4)