ANI
27 Aug 2025, 20:40 GMT+10
Beijing [China], August 27 (ANI): Zhejiang-born academic Feng Siyu, once celebrated as one of China's most gifted students, has disappeared from public view since her arrest in 2018. According to Human Rights in China (HRIC), she is believed to be serving a lengthy prison sentence linked to her research on Uyghur cultural traditions.
Feng first drew national attention in 2012 after being admitted to 17 of the world's leading universities, including the University of Chicago, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern. Chinese media portrayed her as a prodigy. She eventually pursued a degree in history at Amherst College in Massachusetts and later continued her postgraduate studies at SOAS, University of London.
Fluent in both English and Uyghur, Feng specialised in Asian cultural studies, with a particular focus on Uyghur folklore and oral traditions. Her cross-cultural expertise earned her recognition among scholars. Yet her academic work also placed her in politically sensitive territory.
In 2014, Feng shared a Facebook post commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The suppression once inflicted on the 1989 student generation has resurfaced against young scholars like Feng, as noted by the HRIC report.
Internal police documents obtained by international rights groups show that authorities began investigating Feng in late 2017. The official reason was that her phone allegedly contained 'foreign software'. However, the same report admitted the app was factory-installed and never used. Despite the weak evidence, she was arrested in 2018. HRIC reports that Feng was sentenced to 15 years in prison and possibly transferred from a Xinjiang facility back to her home province of Zhejiang.
Experts believe her detention is more closely tied to her research. In early 2017, Feng joined the Folklore Research Centre at Xinjiang University under the renowned ethnographer Rahile Dawut, who herself vanished later that year and was secretly sentenced to life in prison.
According to HRIC, Feng's case highlights the growing risks faced by academics studying Uyghur culture. For this once-promising scholar, as for Dawut, an academic dream has been brutally cut short. (ANI)
Get a daily dose of Boston Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Boston Star.
More InformationNEW YORK CITY, New York: Alphabet's Waymo has secured its first permit to test autonomous vehicles in New York City. This allows the...
TOKYO, Japan: Matcha, the finely ground green tea powder long associated with Japan's centuries-old tea ceremony, has become a global...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks advanced Tuesday despite another attempt by President Donald Trump to undermine the Federal Reserve...
SARASOTA, Florida, - Trump Media and Technology Group Corp, operator of the social media platform Truth Social, the streaming platform...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. government will take a nearly 10 percent equity stake in Intel, converting billions of dollars in federal...
DAMASCUS, Syria: Syria is preparing a sweeping overhaul of its battered currency, with plans to issue new banknotes that drop two zeros...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Alphabet's Waymo has secured its first permit to test autonomous vehicles in New York City. This allows the...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: As inflation and economic uncertainty weigh on household budgets, more consumers are opting to cook at home...
Beijing [China], August 27 (ANI): Zhejiang-born academic Feng Siyu, once celebrated as one of China's most gifted students, has disappeared...
(Photo credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images) The road has some bumps in it for the Boston Red Sox, but they keep plugging away in...
(Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images) While Anthony Volpe was back at shortstop for the New York Yankees after sitting out two...
(Photo credit: David Richard-Imagn Images) Parker Messick struck out six over seven innings for his first win in the majors as the...
