Introduction

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.

 

This collection of blogs written by cadres, teachers, police officers, and other personnel carrying out the fanghuiju (访惠聚) campaign offers a unique window into how policies in Xinjiang are implemented on the ground. They contain a wealth of data about detainment, including some names and figures attesting to its scale, and they indicate the degree to which state surveillance and propaganda work have penetrated into everyday life. For more information regarding cadres and their activities within Xinjiang, please refer to the Cadre Handbooks.

Published in 2017 in multiple news outlets, these documents were intended for distribution among communities throughout Xinjiang. The expressed intent was to provide individuals with 75 different activities and behaviors that the PRC government deemed as potential religious extremism. Individuals were encouraged to report any of these activities to local authorities for further investigation.

This translated blog entry written by a Han woman about her travels in Xinjiang provides a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of Uyghurs living in a Kashgar neighborhood. The author recounts her friendship with Akbar and Muyesar, a middle-aged couple, and her descriptions feature candid conversations about their life histories, past hopes, and present anxieties. They met several times beginning in 2017, and upon returning to the neighbourhood in 2018 the author learned that Akbar was given a 13-year prison sentence for issues with his cell phone. The Cadre Blogs section above features hundreds of similar social media and blog posts in the original Chinese.