China calls Mass detention centres an internal affaire, blames US for provocation
The People’s Republic of China has reacted strongly to a report published in a leading United States (U.S.) daily – New York Times (NYT), linking the President of People’s Republic of China – Xi Jinping to mass detention centers in far Western Region of Xinjiang in China.
The 400 pages sensitive documents of the Communist Party of China (CPC), is one of the largest ever data leaks from inside the Chinese Government. According to the NYT, the documents were leaked by a member of the Chinese political establishment who wanted to make sure that Xi Jinping and other Senior Party Official are held responsible for their acts.
The documents provide an insight into the policy making around the continued mass detention of religious and ethnic minorities. Upto 2 million Muslim Uyghurs and other minority groups are detained in these detention camps, which are working to eradicate their language and cultural heritage.
Accusing the U.S. of disrupting stability and harmony in Xinjiang, the Deputy Director of the Foreign Ministry Information Department of China – Geng Shuang has termed the report as wilful misinterpretation.
Speaking at a Press Conference, he said, “It (the Times) used clumsy patchwork and distortion to hype up the so-called ‘internal documents’ and smear China’s counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts. What are they up to?”
Geng said that the China’s efforts to de-radicalization separatism have been a major success.
He further added, “Xinjiang affairs are purely China’s domestic affairs. The issue Xinjiang faces is not about ethnicity, religion or human rights … Thanks to the preventive counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts, Xinjiang … hasn’t seen a single violent, terrorist incident over the past three years.”
The Uyghurs are Muslims of Turkic ethnicity who live in East and Central Asia. Around 10 million Uyghurs live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. They are one of the 55 ethnic minorities in the region. They have been long accusing Chinese authorities of cultural, religious and economic discrimination.
The Uyghurs population and other Turkic language-speaking minorities in China have reportedly been held in these concentration camps, which China claims are ‘vocational training centers’.
China had until now, denied existence of such camps. But off late, they have termed them as vocational training centers, which are a part of a region-wide program, designed to curb Islamic extremism.
Uyghurs in Xinjiang live under a full-fledged police State with extensive controls and restrictions upon their religious, cultural and social life. They are not allowed to own books about Uyghurs, grow a beard or have a prayer rug. Besides, the Government had also installed cameras in the homes of private citizens.
The documents also talk about an old campaign of Xi Jinping, which includes his unpublished speeches, he made to local officials in 2014, calling for “absolutely no mercy” in a crackdown on “terrorism and separatism.”
As per the leaked documents, a lot of Party workers who were against the detention camps were removed from their respective positions.
The said speech was made just days after a terrorist attack in the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi in April 2014. Xinjiang has a long history of protests, including a Police crackdown in 2009, which spiralled into citywide violence.
For the records, these camps are widely criticized across the Western world, with 23 countries including U.S. and Australia raising their voice against them. However, China has also received appreciation from 54 other countries, who have signed a counter statement, praising the efforts of China in de-radicalization of terrorism.
