China calls Xinjiang camps training centres, but government’s own documents say otherwise, researcher finds
- A researcher’s review of government documents finds evidence of coercive internment, police presence and political brainwashing
- The findings refute China’s claims of ‘vocational education and training centres’ by quoting government reports not intended for international audiences
While China has gone to great lengths to paint its internment camps in Xinjiang as humane “boarding schools”, a researcher has found abundant evidence to refute the propaganda claims from the government’s own documents.
Adrian Zenz, an independent German researcher focusing on Xinjiang, has examined a vast body of government documents to determine what he calls the “true nature and extent” of the camps, finding evidence of coercive internment, heavy presence of police guards and political brainwashing.
In response to mounting international outcry over its internment of an estimated one million or more Uygurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in far western Xinjiang, the Chinese government has launched an all-out public relations offensive to defend the camps, which it says are “vocational education and training centres” that offer a benign alternative to formal prosecution for people “influenced by religious extremism”.
Zenz’s research seeks to refute these claims with the government’s own statements, as entailed in official documents and related reports that are not intended for international audiences.