China places more than two million people under the radar of the repression in Xinjiang

The Chinese communist regime led by Xi Jinping has deployed in the last decade a vast campaign of extreme security in the western region of Xinjiang, home to the Uyghur ethnic minority, which professes Islam.

Beijing has launched a kind of big brother of hyper-surveillance, detention and repression in confinement centers under the premise of achieving a "transformation [of inmates] through education".

Secret documents obtained in the framework of the journalistic investigation

, in which 14 media outlets from 11 countries have participated, including EL PAÍS, offer new proof of the magnitude of this systematic repression.

The papers contain the transcript of a previously confidential appearance by Chinese Public Security Minister Zhao Kezhi held on June 15, 2018 in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

During the intervention before his comrades, Zhao estimates that there are more than two million citizens of the region influenced by "separatism and religious extremism" and therefore objectives of the campaign that seeks to "stabilize" Xinjiang.

The minister and CCP leader directly and repeatedly points to President Xi as the "center" of the "governance and fight against terrorism" strategy.

More information

'The Xinjiang Police Files' |

Thousands of secret documents put a face to the Chinese repression of the Uyghurs: prison regime, imprisoned children and shoot to kill

Half a dozen journalistic investigations based on internal Chinese documents have allowed an X-ray of the repression to be made since 2019.

Through testimonies of the dissidents, house-to-house phone calls, the leaking of confidential papers and the analysis of satellite images, a certain consensus had been reached among journalists, academics and even the UN on the number of citizens who had gone through these installations, about a million.

Zhao's speech leads one to think, according to Adrian Zenz, a German academic who has led the

that this number of victims is even higher.

During his appearance, in the framework of a five-day visit to Xinjiang and in relation to people who may require re-education, Zhao says the following: "There are two million people in Xinjiang who have been influenced by thoughts of independence (... .).

Southern Xinjiang [where Uyghurs are in the majority] has more than two million people who have been severely influenced by the infiltration of religious extremism."

At no time does the CCP high command claim that these citizens under Beijing's radar, two million throughout the region, plus another two million in the south alone, have already been interned.

Many of them could be in both groups at the same time, so it is not possible to know how many Zhao is referring to.

Xinjiang has 25 million people,

Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on March 10.ALEX PLAVEVSKI (EFE)

This transcript is part of a file with thousands of documents obtained by an anonymous external source through the intrusion into computer systems operated by the Public Security Bureau (PSB), the Chinese police, in Konasheher and Tekes counties.

A “human” internment

Zhao cites in his speech two of the three "demons" identified by the communist regime in Xinjiang;

he speaks of independence and religious radicalism, to which we should add, in third place, terrorism.

A triad that the Xi government has identified as targets to annihilate in Xinjiang, especially since the clashes between Uyghurs and Han in July 2009 in Urumqi, which caused the death of 200 people.

Five years later and after several attacks in the region by separatist groups, Xi gave the green light to the

It is quoted in every political speech stolen from the OPS computer networks in Xinjiang.

If until now scholars of the region were suspicious of Xi's central role in setting up the vast network of re-education centers, Zhao's intervention makes its relevance clear.

"The purpose of the visit (...)", says the Chinese leader at the beginning of his speech, "is to implement Secretary General Xi Jinping's strategy to govern Xinjiang and the important instructions given (...) to continue advancing in the fight against terrorism”.

Zhao, who quotes Xi 18 times, insists on the support of the security strategy in the region, including the re-education camps, both from the Chinese president and the CCP Central Committee.

CCP General Secretary in Xinjiang Chen Quanguo appears in Beijing in March 2019.GREG BAKER (AFP)

In 2016, Chen Quanguo, the hard man behind the repression in the region and the mastermind behind the proliferation of re-education centers, was placed at the forefront of this strategy as general secretary of the party in Xinjiang.

They have two speeches by Chen, one of them delivered on June 18, 2018, before the full party officials in the region, just three days after Zhao's visit.

The head of the party in Xinjiang recovers some of the minister's words ―which has helped to verify the speeches―;

he emphasizes that both follow the "instructions and requirements of the secretary general", that is, Xi Jinping.

Chen's oratory has a naturalness that other public speeches do not have, perhaps because his words were not intended to be transcribed and aired.

“Even if basic stability [in Xinjiang] is achieved in five years,” Chen says, “we will continue to crack down for another five years.”

The Chinese regime has proposed to consolidate what they call "comprehensive stability" in the region in the period 2017-2022.

The communist leader highlights the need to guarantee "absolute security" in prisons, detention centers (where those arrested await sentencing) and reeducation.

And it goes a little further: “No one should ever plan to attack internment centers, [they have] multiple lines of defense, as soon as there is someone who moves [against them], they must open fire with determination [on them]” .

A little later in his speech, Chen laments the failure to open fire during the 2009 clashes in Urumqi and suggests that if anyone threatens the authorities again, the “kill first, ask questions later” doctrine should be followed.

Protocols for police action in response to incidents in re-education centers included in

provide good evidence that agents have permission to shoot to kill in the event that inmates try to escape and do not attend to reasons with the special forces deployed.

The leaked documents contain a second speech by the great architect of the repression in Xinjiang during the years 2016-2021, sanctioned by the United States due to his role in the abuse of the human rights of ethnic minorities.

In it, delivered on May 28, 2017, Chen takes his vision of re-education centers to the grotesque by calling them "human" because they have air conditioning, daily meat rations and the possibility of family visits. 15 yuan (2 euros) maintenance per day.

Administrative documents included in

speak rather of the installation of ventilation systems to prevent heat stroke during the summer months.

Along with these apparently kind words, the CCP general secretary in Xinjiang finally shows great toughness throughout his speech.

In the first place, he affirms that there are inmates in the re-education centers who cannot be let out because they would cause problems again ―“this is the reality of Xinjiang”, Chen argues―, and he tightens the screws on the police forces that maintain a Soft stance towards the goals of the re-education program, especially if they return from abroad - Beijing is particularly devoted to targeting Uyghurs leaving China.

"[You have to] arrest them as soon as you see them," Chen defends, and "treat them as if they were serious criminals."

To do this, the first thing, he continues, will be to put "handcuffs and a hood" on them.

Follow all the international information on

Exclusive content for subscribers

read without limits

subscribe

I'm already a subscriber