A new leak of highly classified Chinese government documents reveals the operations manual for running the mass detention camps in Xinjiang and exposed the mechanics of the region’s system of mass surveillance.
Highly classified Chinese government documents reveal Chinese authorities have been targeting users of the Zapya app, as part of their crackdown against the Muslim Uighur population.
A new leak of classified Chinese government documents has exposed the secret details behind China’s mass detention camps.
Download and read the classified documents at the heart of the China Cables.
In this investigation
About this investigation
China Cables is an investigation into the surveillance and mass internment without charge or trial of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang province, based on leaked classified Chinese government documents.
Read MoreMore articles
The leaked “Qaraqash List” shows that ethnic minorities were detained in camps for growing a beard or wearing a veil, or having too many children.
Pressure continues to grow on the Chinese government, with calls for asset freezes and Winter Olympics boycotts over its treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
We’ve learned a lot about China’s mass internment camps since the first English reports were published in 2017. But there are still plenty of unanswered questions.
Zumrat Dawut, a Uighur woman who spent time in one of China’s detention camps, has spoken out about her experience on behalf of those still in camps. They “do not have a voice… Now I have the chance. And I choose to be their voice.”
A Uighur woman in the Netherlands has claimed that she was one of the sources of documents used as part of the China Cables investigation.
The US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill calling for sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for mass detentions and other human rights abuses against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.
Governments across the world expressed deep concerns about the treatment of ethnic minorities in the region following the publication of the China Cables.
To better explain China’s actions and the findings of the China Cables, we answer some key questions about who is involved, the crackdown’s origins, and the significance of the secret documents.
The man who signed China’s confidential plans for sweeping extrajudicial detentions and internment camps in Xinjiang had a “lot of ground experience in the trickiest parts of Xinjiang.”
China Cables is an investigation into the surveillance and mass internment without charge or trial of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang province, based on leaked classified Chinese government documents.
About us
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is a global network of more than 200 investigative journalists in 70 countries who collaborate on in-depth investigative stories.
Learn moreSupport us
Independent, fearless investigative journalism is expensive and ICIJ relies on your support.
Help protect global societies from unprecedented threats by supporting independent investigative journalism.