China is not happy that the New York Times exposed leaked documents that show the lengths the country has gone toward oppressing Muslim’s in the communist country.
The Associated Press reported Monday that China’s foreign ministry accused the Times of “hyping up” the reports and creating a “clumsy patchwork” of reporting based on “selected interpretation” of the documents.
Spokesman Geng Shuang took the Times to task for its coverage of the documents, but did not dispute the document’s authenticity. He also suggested that the fact that China’s Xinjiang region hasn’t had a terrorist attack in three years should be proof that whatever policy they have implemented is correct. It was about three years ago that China began forcibly putting Muslim minorities in concentration camps, which they claim are educational facilities.
“It is hyping up these so-called internal documents to smear China’s efforts in Xinjiang. What is the agenda?” he said, according to the AP.
“Xinjiang’s continuing prosperity, stability, ethnic unity and social harmony are the strongest refutation to the allegations by certain media and individuals,” he added.
The Daily Wire previously reported that the documents revealed that students returning home in Xinjiang would find their families missing. China provided authorities pre-written scripts to follow when answering the students’ questions. For example, authorities were to respond, “They’re in a training school set up by the government,” when asked by students what had happened to their families. If the students pressed, authorities were to say their families weren’t criminals, but could not leave the “schools.”
Authorities were also told to make implicit threats to the students suggesting that their behavior could influence how long their relatives would remain detained.
“I’m sure that you will support them, because this is for their own good and also for your own good,” authorities would say.
The documents also showed that Chinese authorities demanded people who complained about the detention policies were told to be grateful to the Chinese Communist Policy and to stop speaking out.
It has also been alleged that Xinjiang’s continued “prosperity,” as Geng claimed, is an illusion. Earlier this month The Daily Wire reported that Chinese authorities allegedly stage towns for visiting journalists and diplomats. Muslims in the region are paid to pray at their local mosques — something they avoid for fear of being detained — when visitors come to inspect the towns. Other townspeople are played by police officers, teachers, retirees, whomever, and are assigned roles and scripts with about 50 different questions and answers to memorize. For example, one man who was paid to pray was instructed to tell visitors that they were not prohibited from praying or entering the mosque, even though it was a lie.
The camps are also not educational facilities, as the Chinese government claims. One woman who was detained and forced to teach others in the camp spoke out against the rampant torture, sexual abuse, and human experimentation that occurs in the camps.
Others who have left the camp tell similar stories, and say those detained are forced to denounce Islam and swear their allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.