Files posted on a Chinese government website reveal that police in Tibet last month purchased more than $160,000 worth of DNA kits and other supplies from Massachusetts-based lab equipment retailer Thermo Fisher, The Intercept reports. The equipment may have been employed in the intense scrutiny to which the Chinese government has subjected Tibetan people and some other ethnic minorities: The Thermo Fisher sale news comes on the heels of a report from privacy group Citizen Lab stating that authorities have collected DNA from as many as 1.2 million Tibetans since 2016, as well as a separate report released by Human Rights Watch alleging that authorities have collected DNA from Tibetan children.
Chinese authorities have justified DNA collection as a means to solve crimes, but the Citizen Lab report asserts that because there are no checks in place, police in Tibet could be using this genetic information for any purpose, including ...
