China tightens its grip on information after Xinjiang document leaks

The Chinese government in the far west Xinjiang region is deleting data, destroying documents, and tightening its grip on the information in response to the leaks of classified documents of its mass detention camps for Muslim minorities. Reportedly, several high-level meetings have also been held after the leaked documents disclosed Beijing's deliberate strategy to contain the Uighur Muslims even before they commit a crime and rewire their thoughts along with the language they speak. 

The papers even showed how the Chinese government is pioneering a form of social control using artificial intelligence. In the aftermath of the leak, the top officials discussed their plans in meetings at the Chinese Communist Party’s regional headquarters in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital. Nearly four officials have revealed the information to the international agency on the condition of anonymity because of fears of retribution against themselves. 

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People have 'graduated'

China who has denied against the repeated claims of 'genocide' and violence against the Uighurs has also called them 'educational camps'. Shohrat Zakir, Xinjiang’s Uighur governor said on December 9 that all people who were part of the vocational training centres in Xinjiang have 'graduated' and are living happy lives. These remarks again opposed the reported remarks by the family members of Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities who said that they are still detained in camps and prisons. 

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“When the lives of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang were seriously threatened by terrorism, the U.S. turned a deaf ear,” Zakir said at a press briefing. “On the contrary, now that Xinjiang society is steadily developing and people of all ethnicities are living and working in peace, the U.S. feels uneasy, and attacks and smears Xinjiang.” 

The leaked internal documents revealed the directives of President Xi Jinping to “show absolutely no mercy” on Uighur Muslims, a minority ethnic group, in the “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism”. The 403-page long documents, leaked to an American daily, include internal speeches by Jinping and other officials, directives and reports on the surveillance and control of the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.

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