Oxford publishes Chinese-funded research that uses Uighur DNA

Oxford University has been accused of “wrong and stupid” behaviour for entering a deal with the Chinese government under which it has published genetics research suspected of breaching ethics rules.

The university’s publishing arm has begun internal investigations into three studies, including one based on DNA collected from the oppressed Uighur population in Xinjiang by scientists linked to the Chinese police. The research has been published online by Oxford University Press (OUP) in a journal that receives financial support from China’s ministry of justice.

The highly unusual deal will raise fears that Oxford risks becoming entangled in human rights abuses against the Uighur community.

It will also fuel concerns over China’s efforts to influence UK academia, such as through funding Confucius Institutes in 30 universities.

China was publicly condemned last month by dozens of countries at a United Nations meeting over its treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority, with 160 nations urging it to improve its rights record. A UN human rights office report said in 2022 that the mass detention of Uighurs and other Muslims in the Xinjiang region, in northwest China, may constitute crimes against humanity.

In that context, western scientists say it is impossible to be confident that samples taken from Uighur individuals have been obtained with their freely given, informed consent.

After being approached by The Times about three studies based on DNA samples from Uighur and another minority group in Xinjiang, OUP said it was investigating all of them and that “expressions of concern” would be added to them online.

The collection of DNA is likely to spread fear through persecuted groups in China, experts said, because of the risk it will give the state new powers over them. Genetic databases can be used to track individuals as they leave traces of DNA behind them, and also to map out family relationships.

Another fear said to be circulating among the Uighur in Xinjiang is that state-run DNA databases will be used to match organs forcibly harvested from them to suitable recipients.

The journal, called Forensic Sciences Research, is published by OUP and the articles appear online under OUP’s “Oxford Academic” branding. However, a statement obtained through a freedom of information request has shown that the journal receives financial support from the Academy of Forensic Science, part of China’s ministry of justice, which actually owns it.

A spokeswoman for OUP said: “The costs of publishing the journal are incurred by Oxford University Press with financial support from the owner of Forensic Sciences Research, the Academy of Forensic Science, which is based in China.”

OUP has run the journal since taking it over from Taylor & Francis, another British-based academic publisher. The change was announced in August 2022 and appears to have come into effect in January 2023. The deal with China was in place before Oxford ran the journal; OUP has maintained the arrangement for more than a year.

OUP declined to give further details of its deal with the Chinese government, claiming that “having to publish details of its publishing agreements would be detrimental to the press’s reputation and would negatively [affect] its ability to negotiate or to compete in a commercial environment”. It said the Chinese funding would continue for an undefined “initial period”.

The studies being investigated were first flagged by Yves Moreau, a professor of engineering at KU Leuven, a Belgian university. He has spent the past five years investigating how researchers in China have been collecting genetic data from vulnerable or oppressed groups.

Moreau said: “Oxford has to take a stance: does it want to shore up the reputation of an authoritarian regime by giving its behaviour credibility in the scientific arena?”

He added: “There is a feeling that UK universities may have become dependent on China [because of the large fees paid by Chinese students] — and that they can’t hurt the hand that feeds them.”

There are longstanding concerns over DNA samples collected in China. In 2021 David Curtis of University College London resigned as editor-in-chief of the journal Annals of Human Genetics, published by Wiley. He said he could not trust claims that participants had freely given their consent. “It was impossible for me to be confident that those studies had been performed ethically,” he said. Concerns over the possibility of forced organ harvesting had played on his mind, he added.

He added that the arrangement between Oxford and the Chinese government appeared to be “extremely odd”. The China-backed journal is free to access and does not charge scientists a fee to process their work for publication, which goes against the industry norm for open-access publishing.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader, said: “There is a genocide taking place [against the Uighur] in Xinjiang. Men are taken away into forced labour camps, the women have been forcibly sterilised and we have a record of them being raped and abused, and the children are taken into re-education camps … There’s no way on earth that anybody would have bothered to ask them for their permission.”

Oxford had acted with “insensitivity and stupidity” and publishing the research had been “wrong”, he added.

The papers flagged by Moreau include one published in June 2022 that analysed DNA samples taken from 264 Uighur individuals. The lead author, Dr Halimureti Simayijiang, was affiliated with the Xinjiang Police College, as well as the University of Copenhagen.

Another study by Simayijiang, published in 2019 by another journal, has already been retracted, after an investigation found that DNA samples were not covered by proper ethics approvals.

Moreau has flagged two other studies that appeared in Oxford’s Forensic Sciences Research. One, published in December, involved 50 “bloodstain” samples taken from Xibe ethnic minority individuals, also in Xinjiang. The lead author, Fei Guo, is based at the Criminal Investigation Police University of China, Shenyang. It says ethical approvals came from “the Ethical Committee of China Medical University” — but none of the researchers was based there when the study was done.

The journal also published DNA profiles of the Xibe participants, which is likely to be a breach of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules, unless they gave their consent. A third paper, also involving Xibe samples and published in June 2022, has similar problems. The lead author, Yang Xin, was also based at the Criminal Investigation Police University of China in Shenyang.

The Chinese embassy in London was approached for comment.

The publisher said: “In late 2023 we were alerted to concerns regarding an article in Forensic Sciences Research, and in January to concerns regarding two additional articles in the journal.

“Based on the information we have received, we agree that these articles warrant further investigation. We are undertaking that investigation at the moment. While the investigation takes place, we will be publishing expressions of concern for all three articles.”