Censure of officials sheds light on sweeping surveillance measures in China’s restive Xinjiang
Punishment of cadres for failing to gather intelligence highlights the intensive surveillance in place amid violent attacks blamed on Islamist separatists
The Communist Party in China’s restive Xinjiang region has punished 97 cadres in its rural south for failing to do a proper job monitoring local residents, providing a rare glimpse into the extent of surveillance imposed in the ethnic-Uygur heartland.
The cadres in Hotan prefecture in southern Xinjiang, including seven village police officers, were punished for a wide range of derelictions of duty, such as failing to mark down the exact number of Muslims taking part in congregational prayers, or not knowing who were absent from the weekly flag-raising ceremonies – a compulsory gathering aimed to boost patriotism, during which the national anthem is sung under the Chinese flag.
The announcement came after an inspection team was sent to the prefecture to check on their work last month by the region’s party chief Chen Quanguo, the regional party committee’s propaganda department said on social media on Thursday.
The far western region of Xinjiang, home to the country’s Muslim Uygur minority, has long been placed under stringent security and surveillance measures in a government’s crackdown on what it calls Islamic separatist and extremist forces. The announcement is a rare public acknowledgement of some of the detailed security measures taken.
Hotan prefecture, where 96 per cent of the population of two million are Uygurs, has witnessed two violent attacks in recent months. Eight people died in a knife attack in February and another five died during a bomb attack in December.
Some cadres sent to rural villages in the prefecture to visit families were punished for gathering too little information about households, especially “key persons” - people deemed to be associated with terrorism and extremism - or religious people, the propaganda department said.