Xinjiang Papers

Written By Lina K

What are the Xinjiang Papers?

The Xinjiang Papers are a cache of government documents, most of them classified, that were originally leaked to the New York Times by a “member of the Chinese political establishment” and published in November 2019, though only a small number of transcribed pages were released publicly. The files contain highly sensitive and pertinent material in relation to Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang, including highly classified speeches, policies and internal memos that detail the mass detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and reveal how China created and organised the system of re-education camps.

Two weeks after the NYT investigation was published, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists published another cache of secret Chinese government documents from 2017 dubbed the China Cables, sourced from exiled Uyghurs.

In September 2021, a set of digital files was leaked to the Uyghur Tribunal during the second set of hearings; careful comparison showed them to be identical to the Xinjiang Papers. Detailed analysis of the Xinjiang Papers and what this evidence indicates about the central government’s role in Xinjiang policies, as well as the author’s resulting conclusions on the question of genocide, were submitted to the Tribunal as part of all of the evidence it considered when reaching its judgment.

Key Reading

‘Absolutely No Mercy’: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detention of Muslims

More than 400 pages of internal Chinese documents provide an unprecedented inside look at the crackdown on ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region. (New York Times, Published November 2019)

The Xinjiang Papers: An Introduction

This report, submitted to the Tribunal, contains a detailed overview of the documents. (Adrian Zenz, Published December 2021)

The Xinjiang Papers: An Analysis of Key Findings and Implications for the Uyghur Tribunal in London

This report, submitted to the Tribunal, contains a detailed analysis of the Xinjiang Papers and what this evidence indicates about the central government’s role in Xinjiang policies, as well as the author’s resulting conclusions on the question of genocide. (Adrian Zenz, Published December 2021)

Evidence Submitted to the Tribunal

This page covers all of the evidence submitted to the Tribunal, in the form of statements, transcripts and reports.

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This report shows how the Xinjiang papers reveal the centralised decision-making behind the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

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This report, submitted to the Uyghur Tribunal, contains a detailed analysis of the Xinjiang Papers and what this evidence indicates about the central government’s role in Xinjiang policies, as well as the author’s resulting conclusions on the question of genocide.

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