{"id":1209,"date":"2019-12-02T23:04:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T14:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/?p=1209"},"modified":"2019-12-02T23:20:38","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T14:20:38","slug":"devastating-leaks-have-deprived-china-of-its-main-strategy-to-deflect-mounting-evidence-of-its-mass-oppression-of-uighur-muslims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/2019\/12\/02\/devastating-leaks-have-deprived-china-of-its-main-strategy-to-deflect-mounting-evidence-of-its-mass-oppression-of-uighur-muslims\/","title":{"rendered":"Devastating leaks have deprived China of its main strategy to deflect mounting evidence of its mass oppression of Uighur Muslims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/author\/alexandra-ma\">Alexandra Ma<\/a>&nbsp;Nov 27, 2019, 12:00 AM   <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-uighurs-leaked-govt-cables-cant-deny-2019-11?fbclid=IwAR0PQoD7SQ9oDIU-LQyB_8fYAO2rWYyfIBqxYBAxxBS2xcwPWRThg6bn3dY\">https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-uighurs-leaked-govt-cables-cant-deny-2019-11?fbclid=IwAR0PQoD7SQ9oDIU-LQyB_8fYAO2rWYyfIBqxYBAxxBS2xcwPWRThg6bn3dY<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>China has long denied its mass surveillance and prison-camp detention of the Uighur Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang.<\/li><li>But a series of classified government documents, leaked to The New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists this month, has knocked down this line of defense.<\/li><li>We now have solid proof of the Uighur oppression from within the Communist Party.<\/li><li>The leaks are devastating and extraordinary, but China likely doesn&#8217;t care. It has brushed off the documents by calling them fake news, and continued to defend its actions in the region.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/?hprecirc-bullet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Visit Business Insider&#8217;s homepage for more stories<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>China has lost its ability to deny its mass oppression of the Uighur Muslims, thanks to a series of devastating leaked cables detailing the crackdown from within the Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The country has for years denied oppressing the Uighurs, a mostly-Muslim ethnic minority in western China, with intrusive surveillance and mass detentions. China sees Uighurs&#8217; religion as a threat, and is operating a counterterrorism campaign in their home region of Xinjiang, also known as East Turkestan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leaked internal government documents detailing the crackdown, published by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/11\/16\/world\/asia\/china-detention-directive.html\">The New York Times<\/a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.icij.org\/investigations\/china-cables\/exposed-chinas-operating-manuals-for-mass-internment-and-arrest-by-algorithm\/\">International Consortium of Investigative Journalists<\/a>&nbsp;(ICIJ) this month, have confirmed the coordinated campaign against the populace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/image.businessinsider.com\/5ddd2808fd9db2203154a523?width=700&amp;format=jpeg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: Imams and government officials pass under security cameras as they leave the Id Kah Mosque during a government organised trip in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, January 4, 2019. REUTERS\/Ben Blanchard\"\/><figcaption>Imams and government officials pass under security cameras while leaving the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar, Xinjiang, in January 2019.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The classified documents published by The New York Times include instructions on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-uighur-detention-camps-cleanse-religion-leaked-documents-nyt-2019-11\">how to tell Uighur students that their parents had been detained<\/a>&nbsp;for their religion, speeches by President Xi Jinping on the need for a crackdown on Uighurs, and a threat to punish party officials who don&#8217;t follow instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cables published by the ICIJ describe the tight security controls in the prison camps and the multitude of reasons for which Uighurs can be detained \u2014 from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-uighurs-prison-camps-round-up-zapya-app-2019-11\">using a file-sharing app<\/a>&nbsp;to exhibiting Muslim markers,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-gives-these-excuses-to-imprison-uighur-ethnic-minority-2018-9\">such as telling colleagues to pray and stay away from porn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/image.businessinsider.com\/5dce8e047eece52b842811c5?width=700&amp;format=jpeg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"FILE PHOTO: Chinese paramilitary police in riot gear stand guard across the entrance to a large mosque in the centre of the city of Urumqi in China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 9, 2009.  REUTERS\/David Gray\/File Photo\"\/><figcaption>Chinese paramilitary police in riot gear guard a mosque in Urumqi, Xinjiang.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">China claims the leaks are fake news \u2014 but this line of defense isn&#8217;t working<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>China has attempted to shoot down both The Times&#8217; and the ICIJ&#8217;s stories, calling&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/uk.reuters.com\/article\/uk-china-xinjiang\/government-of-chinas-xinjiang-says-leak-on-uighur-camps-fake-news-idUKKBN1XT0AG\">both sets<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/nov\/24\/chinas-response-to-the-leaked-xinjiang-camp-cables\">of leaks<\/a>&nbsp;&#8220;fabrication.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It has used this line of defense multiple times before in response to previous reports of the Xinjiang crackdown as told by relatives, former detainees and experts on the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the strategy of dismissing evidence of the Uighur oppression as fake news doesn&#8217;t work anymore because the leaked documents are solid proof of the crackdown, especially given the documents originated from within the Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/image.businessinsider.com\/5ca7640c16c9586b7776c992?width=700&amp;format=jpeg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"china communist party meeting\"\/><figcaption>A plenary meeting of China&#8217;s National People&#8217;s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in March 2018.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Times&#8217; documents were sent by &#8220;a member of the Chinese political establishment,&#8221; whose identity is not known to the public but is to the newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The origin of the ICIJ cables is less clear \u2014 the network says it received them &#8220;via a chain of exiled Uighurs&#8221; \u2014 but they all contain stamps and letterheads of Chinese authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ICIJ also said it vetted the cables with several linguists and Xinjiang researchers, and corroborated the contents with former Xinjiang detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adrian Zenz, one of the researchers that vetted the ICIJ&#8217;s cables,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/11\/24\/opinion\/china-xinjiang-files.html\">wrote in a Times op-ed<\/a>: &#8220;No more denying, no more dodging. The Chinese Communist Party can no longer hide its relentless campaign of mass internment against the ethnic minorities in &#8230; Xinjiang, or claim that the effort is an innocuous educational program.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;For all its efforts at secrecy, the Chinese government can no longer hide the extent, and the reach, of its campaign of repression in Xinjiang,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/image.businessinsider.com\/5bbb76b194750c095c38f9a2?width=700&amp;format=jpeg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Xi Jinping\"\/><figcaption>Xi votes on a constitutional amendment at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in March 2018.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The leaks are devastating, but China likely doesn&#8217;t care<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The leaks are devastating and extraordinary, particularly since they come from a regime as secretive and tightly-controlled as the Chinese Communist Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, it seems extremely unlikely that the Chinese government will retreat on Xinjiang in favor of a better image abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though Chinese officials have brushed off both leaks as fabrications and attempted smears by Western countries, they have also defended the country&#8217;s tactics in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spokesmen for the country have continued to boast of the lack of terrorist incidents in Xinjiang and an improvement in the region&#8217;s economy, and to claim the camps simply offer&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-calls-xinjiang-uighur-detention-camps-free-vocational-training-2018-10\">&#8220;free vocational training.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>China has used this defense for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/image.businessinsider.com\/5dd27d6f7eece57a2664e444?width=700&amp;format=jpeg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A perimeter fence is constructed around what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. REUTERS\/Thomas Peter\"\/><figcaption>A perimeter fence outside a &#8220;vocational skills education center&#8221; in Dabancheng, Xinjiang.&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman even&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fmprc.gov.cn\/web\/wjdt_674879\/fyrbt_674889\/t1716742.shtml\">said<\/a>&nbsp;last week, in response to the Times report, that the country&#8217;s tactics in Xinjiang were &#8220;worth learning from.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The party official who leaked the internal documents to The Times &#8220;expressed hope that their disclosure would prevent party leaders, including Mr. Xi, from escaping culpability for the mass detentions,&#8221; the newspaper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But as China continues to go without sufficient, tangible pushback or punishment for its actions by foreign powers,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-uighur-hong-kong-bill-tuvalu-embarrassed-but-wont-change-2019-11\">it seems likely that the oppression of Uighurs will not stop any time soon.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alexandra Ma&nbsp;Nov 27, 2019, 12:00 AM https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/china-uighurs-leaked-govt-cables-cant-deny-2019-11?fbclid=IwAR0PQoD7SQ9oDIU-LQyB_8fYAO2rWYyfIBqxYBAxxBS2xcwPWRThg6bn3dY China has long denied its mass surveillance and prison-camp detention of the Uighur Muslims in the western region &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1210,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-1209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-human-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1209"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1220,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1209\/revisions\/1220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yuzb.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}