Were Uyghur Children Used for Biological Experiments? Unpacking a Disturbing Viral Claim

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The treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region is one of the most charged human-rights disputes in the world today, pitting international media and rights groups against Beijing. Against that backdrop, a video spread across social media claiming to show Chinese authorities carrying out biological experiments on Uyghur children, an allegation grave enough that, if true, it would command urgent global attention. However, our investigation found that the video does not depict what the posts claim. We traced the footage to its source to determine what it actually shows.

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Fact Check:

The longstanding international dispute between international media, human rights organisations and the Chinese government over the plight of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang remains a major global issue. Against that backdrop, if a video genuinely exposed China conducting biological experiments or medical tests on Uyghur children, it would demand urgent worldwide attention and extensive reporting.

We found no credible evidence linking this video to biological experiments on Uyghur children, nor any credible reporting identifying the footage as showing such activities. No credible international source corroborates either the footage or any assertion that the Chinese government has carried out such experiments or medical tests on Uyghur children.

To identify the video’s origin, we ran its frames through a reverse image search. This traced the footage to a post-dated April 15, 2023, shared by Jie Lijian, a US-based pro-democracy activist. The video shows two children lying face-up inside two cylindrical glass chambers, with a nurse in the background closing the door of one chamber. The caption claimed the children were Uyghur children being imprisoned and tortured in detention camps while their parents were persecuted. 

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Several user comments on the video, however, suggested it appeared to show a medical treatment rather than any form of torture.

The Glass Chambers Are Infant Oxygen Chambers, Not Torture Devices

We found two earlier posts featuring this same video, published in February 2023, before the April post above.

The first, posted on February 17, 2023, asked whether this was a chamber used to quarantine COVID patients under China’s zero-COVID policy. X

The second, published on February 18, 2023, claimed the Uyghur children were being given some mysterious form of treatment. X

That February 18 post also included further footage of the same chamber from various angles. On close examination, a model number printed in Chinese on one side of the glass chamber was visible, reading “Infant Oxygen Chamber Model YLC0.5/1.5.”

How Infant Oxygen Chambers Are Actually Used

A very similar device was featured by the Xigong Maternal and Child Health Hospital in China, which described the equipment as being used for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. 

Xigong Maternal and Child Health Hospital, China

According to a Chinese medical equipment website, these chambers deliver oxygen therapy to newborns with conditions such as respiratory distress, epilepsy or reduced cerebral blood flow.

Radio Free Asia’s Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) also consulted Dr. Hsia Te-Chun, President of Taiwan’s Hyperbaric and Undersea Medical Association, about the video. He confirmed it depicts a standard oxygen chamber used for children, commonly employed to treat cerebral palsy and autism. Reviewing the footage, he noted that the children’s frequent hand and leg spasms are characteristic of cerebral palsy, and, addressing the claim that this was a zero-COVID treatment, said oxygen therapy has never been an officially recognised COVID treatment. The full fact-check is available here.

It should be noted that we could not independently verify the exact hospital or location where the video was originally filmed. What we confirm is the nature of the equipment and the treatment shown, not the specific hospital where it was recorded.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Crisis

International human rights organizations, UN bodies, and several governments have accused China of serious human rights violations against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, allegations Beijing strongly denies. 

The August 2022 assessment by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) concluded that serious human rights violations, including the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, had occurred, and that these may constitute international crimes, according to the OHCHR assessment, in particular crimes against humanity.

The Chinese government firmly denies the accusations raised by international media and Western nations. According to Beijing’s official White Papers, its measures were taken to prevent terrorist attacks by Uyghur separatist and extremist groups in Xinjiang. 

Beijing rejects allegations of abuses, saying its policies in Xinjiang are part of counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts. Chinese government white papers describe the facilities as “vocational education and training centres” designed to combat extremism, improve employment opportunities, and alleviate poverty. Chinese authorities have consistently denied accusations of arbitrary detention, forced labour, or other human rights violations. Meanwhile, the United States has enacted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), barring imports of goods produced in Xinjiang, such as cotton and solar-panel components, unless certified free of forced labour. Additional details are available here, here and here.

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Conclusion

Our fact-check finds that while serious, well-documented allegations exist about human rights conditions in Xinjiang, the specific video used to illustrate them is misleading.

Examining the equipment shown in the video, together with expert medical opinion, confirms that the glass chamber is an oxygen chamber and that the children in it are receiving specific medical treatment, not being subjected to biological experiments or torture. We rate the video misleading.