The situation in the morning: Now German China policy is taking revenge

Xinjiang Police Files: A leak from inside the system

They are

like the world has never seen.

There are photos of

, there are confidential instructions from the

and a secret order to

from a Chinese official: the data provides extremely vivid evidence of the

, in north-west China.

These documents are part of the most comprehensive leak to date of one of the greatest human rights abuses of our time.

Journalists from 14 media companies from all over the world evaluated the data - including the British BBC, "Le Monde" in France and "El País" in Spain.

In Germany, SPIEGEL and Bayerischer Rundfunk were involved.

The research on this has been published worldwide since this morning.

You can find everything on the subject at any time at www.spiegel.de/xinjiangpolicefiles

Here is the comprehensive overview piece that my colleagues wrote and programmed:

• Torture chair, orders to shoot, assault rifles: data leak gives unique insight into China's brutal apparatus of repression 

Where is the leak coming from?

The

were leaked to German anthropologist

, who in turn shared them with SPIEGEL, Bayerischer Rundfunk and twelve other media houses.

Zenz has been instrumental in uncovering the camp system in Xinjiang in the past - first through research in publicly available sources, later through leaks from inside the system.

The current leak is by far the most extensive.

Here you can read how SPIEGEL and its partners were able to verify the data from the leak:

• Satellite photos, secret orders and prisoner lists: This is how we checked the Xinjiang Police Files 

Tigerstuhl, order to shoot: 20 years in prison for trifles

Data from the Xinjiang Police Files provides

and other Muslim minorities in China.

The existence of the camps is well known, but

: For example, the leak contains a previously unknown speech by the former party leader of the Xinjiang region from 2017, which says that

.

A photo also shows a

.

Other images show security forces with

.

The stories of the internees are shocking, most of them young men, who, according to the documents, often end up in the camp for long years for trifles:

"for preparing a terrorist act" -

The mother is said to have listened to an audio file about Islamic rules that his father played to him on his mobile phone

Another is said to have worked out in a fitness center for two weeks, which was apparently suspicious - he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Here's how China's brutal system of oppression came about in Xinjiang:

• The Repression in Xinjiang: How China Established a Gulag for Muslims 

The Mission of the UN Human Rights Commissioner

The release of the Xinjiang Police Files coincides with

's visit to the region.

The United Nations estimates that around a million people were at one point incarcerated in northwestern China.

Most are Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in the People's Republic.

Bachelet can now visit the region for the first time - how much she actually gets to see there is doubtful.

The Chinese government claims that the camps are professional training institutions aimed at poverty alleviation and the fight against extremist ideas;

staying in the camps is voluntary.

However, the Xinjiang Police Files refute this.

The

did not respond to an extensive list of questions, but said in writing: Xinjiang is not about human rights or religion, but about fighting terrorism, radicalization and separatism.

The “robust and efficient deradicalization methods” used in the region have meant that terrorism no longer exists and that the region enjoys social stability and harmony:

Germany needs to ask itself a few questions

The Xinjiang Police Files also confront the federal government in Berlin with uncomfortable questions: The brutal war of aggression by Russian President Vladimir Putin has just shown that

While supplying cheap energy, Moscow undermined Europe's security and freedom, all the while pursuing an imperialist project.

February showed how dependent the federal government under Angela Merkel and SPD grandees had become on Russian gas in the past.

A similar pattern can be seen in China, only on a larger scale

: the German prosperity of the past 20 years was largely due to the close economic relations with China, above all from exports.

The federal government considered China not always an appetizing system, but an economically reliable trading partner.

This assumption has increasingly evaporated since the beginning of the corona pandemic because China is increasingly withdrawing into itself and trying to cut its cord from the rest of the world.

The country wants to become self-sufficient, the German companies there are finding it increasingly difficult.

Not only since the

has it become apparent how ruthlessly the Chinese state is harassing and imprisoning its citizens.

It is not only since the destruction of the rule of law in Hong Kong that we have known how violently he is ready to strike.

The Xinjiang Police Files vividly demonstrate how blatant the human rights violations are that the Chinese system commits against Muslims in the north-west of its country - a comparably comprehensive camp system has not existed in the world since the end of the Soviet gulags in the mid-1950s.

Germany has benefited from China's rise like hardly any other western country.

But the price for this may have been high.

The legacy of Merkel's chancellorship of making Germany wealthy at the expense of close economic ties with the world's two largest dictatorships has not been adequately discussed.

Not only from a moral point of view, but also because it is unclear how sustainable the strategy was:

.

But as difficult as it is to change course with Russian energy, it is child's play compared to what it would mean to make the German economic model more independent of China.

This discussion is just beginning.

• Planned traffic light strategy paper: Federal government classifies China as a “systemic rival”. 

Loser of the day...

...is

.

Because at first it was said in Berlin that no armored personnel carriers were being delivered to the Ukraine because they didn't have any - it was all junk.

Then later, they don't deliver because the Ukrainians couldn't handle it at all - far too difficult to use.

And then, you don't deliver because you also have to think about the Third World War (which the chancellor didn't want to have said directly, but it still had an effect).

Now there is the very latest variant of a reason: After it turned out that the Bundeswehr - contrary to earlier statements - would have quite a few decommissioned tanks that could be delivered to the Ukraine, 

, Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defense: It was "held together with all western nations in the NATO alliance" that

should be delivered to the Ukraine.

After all the other alleged reasons, this was a surprisingly solid reason.

In fact, no "Western-style armored personnel carriers or main battle tanks" have yet been delivered to Ukraine (except for the Cheetahs, if they really do arrive in Ukraine one day, but those are anti-aircraft tanks).

But it was the first time the Parliamentary State Secretary had heard that there should be an official NATO decision that "no Western-style armored personnel carriers or main battle tanks" would be delivered to Ukraine.

And one wonders: Why didn't the federal government put forward this reason earlier and all the others instead?

Does this resolution really exist with this clarity and why has it never been heard of before?

Or is it just the latest excuse from a government that comes up with something new every day instead of simply saying: no, we don't supply tanks, we don't want to, and by the way we don't say why either.

• Dispute with Poland over weapons for Ukraine: "Unfortunately nothing has been implemented"

The latest news from the night

• The number of executions increases by 20 percent worldwide:

  According to Amnesty International, death sentences and executions are being pronounced and carried out more frequently in many countries.

  This is also related to the pandemic.

  One country is particularly in focus.

• Queen can be chauffeured in a golf buggy:

  The Queen recently had to cancel appointments due to mobility problems.

  For a garden show in London, however, the 96-year-old found another way - and was driven through the exhibition in a golf buggy.

• Magath celebrates relegation – and bids farewell to Hertha BSC:

  Felix Magath took over as coach of Hertha in the midst of relegation – and has now actually kept him in the Bundesliga.

  After the game against HSV he said: "The project is already over."

The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today

• When Russian mercenaries go hunting for jihadists:

  Moscow interferes in Mali on a large scale - and invests a lot of money in propaganda.

  The country falls apart, the people live in terror.

  For the Bundeswehr, the situation on the ground is becoming increasingly risky. 

• "You don't bet on the future":

  When it comes to the climate, it's "five past twelve," says meteorologist Mojib Latif.

  There is neither a lack of money nor solutions.

  The researcher has an idea of ​​how politicians can implement unpopular measures immediately. 

• Call from the past:

  Justine Haupt develops instruments for space travel.

  Because the design of current smartphones annoyed her, she built one herself - with a dial, antenna, bell.

  Now there is great demand for the device. 

• The reign of terror of the two Balthazars:

  the families of the victims had to pay for prison, torture and execution – tormenting alleged witches was worth it.

  A greedy judge in Fulda locked the townswoman Merga Bien in a dog pen and had her burned. 

• The Queen of Estonia:

  Museums rarely look at talent in Eastern Europe.

  The art of Estonian Flo Kasearu could change that.

  Her works about dominance and powerlessness are full of political punch lines, but often not funny at all. 

I wish you a good start into the day.

Yours, Mathieu von Rohr