Thread on must-read story: @nytimes got leak of 403 pages of Chinese Communist Party docs showing how leaders, starting with President Xi Jinping, organized internment camps to detain 1 million+ Muslims for months or years. By @austinramzy @ChuBailiang. nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Officials created a script to answer questions from Muslim students returning home to Xinjiang from elsewhere in China or abroad who were worried about their missing parents. Students were told their parents were being taught about "radical" Islam & couldn't leave the centers.
A local official and longtime Xinjiang resident, Wang Yongzhi, complied with the policy but then refused meet quota for rounding up Muslims. He was purged by Chen Quanguo, party chief of Xinjiang and a Politburo member. Some Chinese have praised Wang online following this story.
Files show systemic nature of the massive human rights abuses, starting w/ Xi. Biggest internment camps since Mao era. Trump refuses to impose sanctions on Chinese officials, even though some US officials have urged sanctions. Our earlier story on that: nytimes.com/2019/05/04/wor…
Policy came directly from 2014 visit to Xinjiang made by Xi & his work forum in Beijing. Our report from 2014 said state media reported Xi said at forum that a new "special policy" would use "special measures" to "deal with special things." The camps? nytimes.com/2014/05/31/wor…
This is the biggest leak of Communist Party docs in decades. It suggests internal discontent over policy against Muslims. The documents show Xi as aggressive, which can be good for his image within party. But Times story says leaker wants Xi to be held responsible for bad policy.
