Recently, someone posted an allegedly leaked document about how to deceive international society and strengthen confidentiality measures on concentration camps (i.e. the so-called vocational skills training centers) in the Uyghur region. This document was sent on Mar. 19, 2018, by the prefecture-level government of Kashgar prefecture to all agencies under its jurisdiction.
Early 2017, when the camps were first reported the Chinese regime at first denied the existence of camps or any other facilities whatsoever that was used to detain Uyghur people. Then due to massive undeniable evidence reported by multiple authentic agencies and satellite images, the Chinese regime admitted that there are facilities called re-education centers to re-educate Uyghur people who ‘infected’ with extremism in their minds. Later, the Chinese regime realized ‘re-education’ is still too harsh for the international community not too condemn its existence. Then, again, the Chinese regime changed its narrative to ‘vocational schools’ to call the concentration camps. They even went far enough to call those concentration camps merely as vocational skills training centers to teach Uyghurs Chinese language and job training. One can easily see that the Chinese regime kept changing the real name of those camps to least extreme names so that people at home and abroad will just follow the regime’s false narrative and let them continue their anti0human crimes.
This leaked document about increasing confidentiality measures to keep their crimes secret tells us that the regime does indeed keep a close watch on how the international community and foreign governments respond to their crimes against humanity in the Uyghur region (so-called Xinjiang). The regime started implementing extremely tough confidentiality measures for every single agencies and personnel who involved in the concentration camp. The regime wanted to make sure that nothing gets out from the camps and no information gets to the reporters so that everyone follows the false narrative they provided due to information vacuum and lack of evidence. It is also surprising that this measurement started as early as March of 2018.
Below is the attached original document in Chinese and its English translation by Uighur Times.
From Kashgar Prefecture Government
Notice of order on making best efforts to strictly keeping the confidentiality of the work in vocational skills education and training
To county and city level social stability work leadership groups and local agencies :
Vocational skills education and training work is backed up by the Party Central Committee’s full affirmation, strong support, firm leadership and implemented by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)’s Party Committee to the overall objectives of the Party Central Committee’s Xinjiang strategic initiatives, and a key development in counter-terrorism stability series. Nearly a year of solid progress in the XUAR’s efforts on improving the harmony of the regional socio-political situation has played an extremely important role, and achieved good results in solidifying he vocational training centers. However, the recent interception of a number of internet cases by internet monitoring agencies fully illustrates that the “Three Evil Forces” in order to achieve its unspeakable and sinister political objectives, in particular, the recent domestic and foreign hostile forces through various forms to explore the work of vocational and technical education and training in our district, attempted to fabricate lies, spread rumors, disturb the audio-visual, denigrate attacks on our vocational skills education and training policy and damage the image of the Communist Party and the Central Government, in an attempt to disrupt our anti-terrorism deployment, and to undermine our stability.
In order to ensure the good and orderly development of vocational skills education and training, the below measures should be strictly followed on the confidential work of strict vocational skills education training:
First, strict confidentiality discipline
- Any circumstances involving vocational skills education and training center, any information, shall be strictly confidential, and no unit, any person shall disclose to unrelated units, organizations, groups, or individuals.
- No agency and personnel shall use mobile phones, landline, Internet and other instant messaging tools and any instant messaging tools such as calls, audio and video, WeChat, microblogs, MMS, transmission media, niche software, etc. to send, transmit, disseminate, walk, evaluate, or discuss any situation related to the vocational education centers.
- No agency and personnel shall use fax, courier, letter, telegram and other non-dedicated encrypted text transmission tools to send and transmit any documents, information about education.
- No agency and personnel shall not accept interviews, inquiries and giving talks from unrelated agencies, unrelated personnel about the re-education centers and reply to any information related to the education centers (e.g. they falsely claim as a certain department, a certain leader, a certain reporter etc.), in any form (e.g. telephone, WeChat, etc.), under any excuse (e.g. falsely claiming to provide funding, investment projects, solving funds, policy research etc.). Thus achieve not believing anyone, not answering anyone, not listening to anyone, not saying anything, not seeing anything, and not passing/sharing anything.
Second, the relevant requirements
- Improve political position.
All prefecture level and county level organizations, agencies, townships (or street offices in cities), villages (or community offices in cities) party organizations must stand strictly in political discipline, follow the political rules, conscientiously fulfill the party organization’s political security responsibilities. To ensure the implementation of the “4+1” rule, the education and training centers must raise their political conscious to the absolutely safe political height, attach great importance to strict norms, and take strong and effective measures to seriously implement the professional skills education and training confidential work.
- Strengthen institutional measures.
County administration, enterprises and institutions, townships (street offices), fields, villages (community) party organizations, in accordance with the requirements of this Notice, to designate specific targeted management measures, strict standardization of management, to ensure that vocational skills education and training report confidential work requirements to be put into practice.
- Increase education efforts.
County administration, enterprises and institutions, townships (street offices), village (community) party organizations, to effectively increase the respective units of cadres and workers and the people in the jurisdiction of publicity and education management efforts, to ensure that the confidentiality of the education and training centers every household must be informed, and effectively enhance all cadres and workers, to raise awareness among the general public, and to consciously abide by the confidentiality provisions to effectively prevent and eliminate the hidden loopholes of confidentiality, resolutely prevent the occurrence of leaks.
- Strengthen the implementation of supervision of the counties and cities.
The main leaders of the relevant units should personally grasp, and charge the relevant departments to seriously investigate and punish violations of confidentiality discipline, non-compliance with the confidentiality system, violation of discipline personnel; Each person must execute the duty at all times as they must put their soul into it.: if anyone dares to violate the relevant provisions of national security and cause leaks, no matter who, no matter what, once found will get resolutely serious punishments. If caused major political consequences, the legal responsibility must be resolutely investigated in accordance with the law.
- Strengthen accountability to the causes.
The main personnel in charge of major government and party leadership positions who fail to fulfill political security responsibilities, to comply with the confidential work of vocational skills education and training centers, fail to take effective measures, to formulate strict disciplines and rules, fail to implement propaganda and education management to public, will be held seriously accountable in accordance with the law.
Command of the Leading Group for Kashgar Prefecture Maintenance of Social Stability
March 19, 2018
Copy: townships (towns, street offices), villages (community) party work committee.
