The 400 pages of documents leaked toThe New York Times expose the thinking behind the crackdown,including Xi's call for an all-out struggle using"organs of dictatorship","a period of painful,interventionary treatment"and showing"absolutely no mercy". The CCP's top official in the province commanded a"smashing,obliterating offensive"and urged colleagues to"round up everyone who should be rounded up".
Included in the trove of documents is a directive on how to handle students returning home to Xinjiang to find their relatives detained. Officials were advised to tell students their relatives were receiving"treatment"for exposure to the"virus"of extremist Islam that had"infected"them,while acknowledging they had not committed any crimes. Students were to be warned their behaviour could affect their relatives'time in detention.
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Officials who resisted carrying out the campaign of mass detention were purged by Chen Quanguo,the hardline party boss installed to oversee the program in 2016. One local official who was worried about the impact of the crackdown was jailed after he released thousands of detainees.
According to theTimes,the rare leak from inside the Chinese political elite was the result of an insider's desire to"prevent party leaders,including Mr Xi,from escaping culpability for the mass detentions"of as many as a million Muslims.
Responding to the report,Senator Payne said it followed a"deeply disturbing"video released in September that appeared to show hundreds of blindfolded and shackled men being transported in Xinjiang.
"I have previously raised Australia’s strong concerns about reports of mass detentions of Uighurs in Xinjiang. These disturbing reports today reinforce Australia’s view and we reiterate those concerns,"she said.