In Chinese Sources, the project breaks down its collection of primary source documents into several categories: White Papers,  Cadre Materials, Forms, Curriculum Materials, Chinese Academic Discourse, Online Sources, and Official State Media. These categories cover a wide range of material to showcase several strands of the state narrative about current events in Xinjiang. Documents collected and shared in this section were originally intended for a wide range of audiences, ranging from international bodies to civil servants and ordinary Chinese netizens. Some documents are explicit articulations of the official story, while others filter this perspective through academic policy recommendations or personal experiences at the grassroots.

Taken as a whole, this collection provides visitors with a nuanced and multifaceted account of recent developments in Xinjiang—one which traces state policies from their inception in discourse to their implementation in communities, reflects how the state justifies these policies to different audiences, and provides a critical glimpse into their impact on Xinjiang’s Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic minorities.</div

White Papers This collection presents summaries of the White Papers, which are reports published in English by the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China to explain and justify policies in Xinjiang. Each entry in the collection features textual analysis of key terms by frequency and a word cloud.

Cadre Materials This collection features Chinese-language handbooks designed to instruct cadres on how to implement campaigns targeting Xinjiang’s ethnic minority populations. These “internal materials” (内部资料) are intended for those carrying out campaigns on the ground in the region, and they offer insight into how the state conceives of the goals, scope, and underlying logic of its anti-extremist and poverty alleviation policies.

Labor Directives This collection includes a variety of documents, directives, papers, and videos regarding “surplus labor transfers” in Xinjiang, part of a state-sponsored labor program in the Uyghur Region. The sources included in this collection show that General Secretary Xi Jinping and top Chinese officials were responsible for the program’s inception and that the central government continues to engage directly in the implementation of the program. The documents also lay out the justifications for the policies and a variety of local implementation plans, quotas, and practices.

Forms This section showcases an array of government and institutional forms used to collect demographic, biometric, and personal information of individuals living in Xinjiang. Population Data Collection Forms (人口信息采集表) are a prime example of such forms. These forms are used to categorize individuals based on characteristics such as employment, religious affiliation, age, etc. These materials provide a glimpse into the type of information being collected and prioritized by the CCP.

Curriculum Materials This section presents publications made by Chinese state actors that have been produced for use in schools and universities as study materials for students. As distinct from materials aimed at Party and State cadres or propaganda intended for general Chinese or international audiences, curriculum materials give us a glimpse of how Chinese authorities hope to shape students’ understanding of Xinjiang issues.

Online Sources This collection features a variety of Chinese government sources made available on the internet. They range from official policy documents published on state websites to articles and blog entries written by journalists and participants in campaigns. In addition to providing an on-the-ground window into events in Xinjiang, they also document how knowledge of these events is being presented to a Chinese-language audience.

Chinese Academic Discourse These collections focus on academic discourse in the past decade as a context leading to the current mass internment of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic peoples in Xinjiang. These bibliographies aim to show the development of academic justifications generated by Chinese scholars. As part of the goal of this documentation project, we also host the original Chinese articles on this site to prevent “link rot” and make them available for the future.

Official Media This section covers an array of programming presented by Chinese state-run media companies like China Global Television Network (CGTN), China Live, China News Service, and more. The following collection showcases state-sanctioned perspectives on conditions within Xinjiang and the treatment of Indigenous populations in the region. These clips feature site visits to re-education centres, conversations with graduates from these centres, and investigative reports.