Gulbahar Haitiwaji and Desmond Shum get personal about the reach of China's power

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2022

⏱️ 18 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we look at the power of the Chinese government. The first book, How I Survived A Chinese Reeducation Camp, is by Gulbahar Haitiwaji, a Uyghur woman who spent years in a detention camp. It's a stark account of human rights atrocities. Haitiwaji told NPR's Scott Simon she feels lucky because millions of people are still suffering. Next is an interview with Chinese businessman Desmond Shum about his book Red Roulette. It's the story of his wife's disappearance and then reappearance. Shum told NPR's Steve Inskeep that when she resurfaced he felt like he was "negotiating with her kidnapper."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Today, we've got two books that
0:07.9	examine the mysterious way power works in China. In a bit, we'll hear from Desmond Scha,
0:14.5	a former Chinese businessman whose ex-wife suddenly disappeared in 2017.
0:20.1	And just as he was about to publish a book detailing his view of Chinese wealth, power,
0:25.3	and corruption, she reappeared, asking him not to publish the book.
0:30.5	But first, if you watched the Winter Games at all last month, there was sort of a shadow
0:35.7	over everything, over China's incarceration of more than a
0:39.1	million Uyghur Muslims stuck in forced labor camps.
0:42.9	Gulbohar Haithuaji is one of the few who've been able to tell her story.
0:47.6	She recently published a book titled How I Survived a Chinese Re-education Camp, and she
0:52.9	told NPR Scott Simon that the worst part of it all
0:56.0	was not knowing when it would end. In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily
1:02.7	life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
1:09.8	NPR reporters on the ground bring you
1:11.6	stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:17.1	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:23.3	China's been accused of genocide by some governments and many human rights groups.
1:28.7	China denies those accusations and says those camps are necessary counterterrorism measures.
1:35.0	Much of the world may turn away.
1:37.6	Gul Bahar Hatuaji has written a scorching memoir.
1:41.6	It's one of the few people who've been able to tell their story.
1:45.1	Her book, How I Survived a Chinese re-education camp, a Uyghur woman story, written with Rosen Morgat
	...

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