Leaked documents reveals connection between Xi Jinping’s speeches and Uyghur crackdown

In apparently the first ever instance of material with “top secret” statements made by a Chinese head of state getting leaked into the public domain, new documents called ‘Xinjiang Papers’ have surfaced, showing Chinese President Xi Jinpings links with the crackdown on Uyghur Muslims.

The documents, which are 317 pages long, were released by Adrian Zenz, Senior Fellow in China Studies, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, say that the files contain highly sensitive and pertinent material in relation to Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang. Nearly all the material is classified as confidential.

Zenz’s summary of the documents, including translations and original papers, was published for the first time on Saturday.

Dr Zenz lays out how speeches given by Xi, Li and other officials in the wake of terror attacks in China in 2013 and 2014 – blamed on Uyghur separatists – led to the creation of a regime which now represses and persecutes Muslims in Xinjiang.

One document containing three speeches by Chinese President Xi Jinping is classified as “top secret”, which “can cause particularly serious damage to the security and interests of the country”.

Overall, this appears to be the first-ever instance that materials with “top secret” statements made by a Chinese head of state have leaked into the public domain – a fact that was not mentioned in the original New York Times report.

In addition, the original New York Times report did not mention several documents issued by the central government that are part of the leak, and which contain crucial additional evidence for such linkages.