Hong Kong rapper, singer, dancer, and record producer, Jackson Wang, has recently gained a considerable amount of attention for his speech on January 12, 2023. 28-year-old Jackson Wang, also known as the Magic Man, is a part of the South Korean Band Got7, formed by JYP entertainment. In his speech, he comments about the anti-China media that is circling. Jackson never clarified what media he was speaking about, making this topic extremely controversial. Part of the community believes that his speech was about hatred due to the pandemic, while others speculated it was about Xinjiang internment camps. Until now, Jackson Wang has not spoken about his controversial speech, not clarifying anything about the topic. 

He openly stated the anti-Chinese media is “propaganda bulls***” and that “If you travel to China one time, you’ll feel like this is a dope place”. He then exclaimed, “I don’t know that game they’re trying to play. I don’t f*cking know…That’s why you guys got to be careful about that media stuff”. The controversy extended after Jackson canceled his partnership with Adidas. Adidas has halted its distribution of Xinjiang cotton due to allegations of slave labor and abuse of ethnic minorities. On Jackson’s official Weibo account, they announced, “From today on, this studio (agency) and Mr. Jackson Wang will cease all work with the brand Adidas Originals. The country’s interests are above everything else, and the studio and Mr. Jackson Wang are strictly against all malicious acts that defame and slander China.”

 Officially called vocational education and training centers, these camps are operated by the Chinese Communist party and the Xinjiang government. These internment camps, located in two counties in Xinjiang, have a majority of the Muslim population. The government holds thousands of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in north-western China. Researchers have said to have found more than 380 suspected detention facilities, where they have a shoot-to-kill policy. China is accused of targeting Muslim religious figures, banning religious practices, and destroying mosques and tombs, completely ridding Uyghers of their culture. 

More allegations show that the Chinese government is forcibly sterilizing Uygher women, aiming toward mass genocide. According to human rights groups and first-hand citizens, they are forced to study Marxism, work in factories, and are victims of widespread rape, sexual abuse, and torture. China’s government has continued to deny these allegations and has even justified these camps, saying they were made to counter extremism and terrorism, while also promoting social integration. Leaked files from the government entirely exposed the treatment and system of the Chinese internment camps and the “Mass Detention of Muslims”. These documents contained speeches by Mr. Xi and other leaders. As of 2020, they are said to have detained up to 1.8 million people. 

Whether Jackson Wang was speaking about the Xinjiang internment camps or the Covid pandemic, Muslim’s human rights are being taken away, and nothing condones this abuse. Media from partner countries with China are primarily silent; they choose to prioritize their economic relationships with China, ignoring the abuse of human rights.