Some of the newly-revealed documents are from an internment camp instruction manual issued by Xinjiang security authorities. One order in them is for staff to “strictly manage door locks and keys – dormitory doors, corridors doors and floor doors must be double locked, and must be locked immediately after being opened and closed.”
According to Beijing the venues were set up as part of a crackdown on separatist terrorism stemming from Xinjiang, which is home to around 11 million members of the mainly Muslim Uighur ethnic group. Internees undergo indoctrination to denounce religion and show loyalty to the CCP and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Escapees have reported torture and rape occurring in the camps.
Yeah, I've been on this.
The release of information highlights a weakness of China despite their cyber-prowess in espionage and controlling information flows:
If “mutually assured cyber destruction" were to occur, one Marine Corps leader said, authoritarian nations such as China might have more to lose than the United States.
Top national security experts have warned that despite the United States’ cyber prowess, the country is vulnerable to cyberattacks because of how interconnected society is with essential services and the internet. But in the case of a cyber catastrophe, “we’ll still be America. We’ll be a little beaten up, a little dirty, but China won’t be China anymore because they will not maintain control,” said Lt. Gen. Eric Smith, head of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command and the deputy commandant for combat development and integration. Smith spoke at an AFCEA Northern Virginia chapter lunch Nov. 15.
I have to wonder if we or our allies had anything to do with getting that information out of China.
Whether or not we or our allies had a hand in it, the release does highlight that China has vulnerabilities in cyber.
On the Uighur issue itself, I know people say that the mass incarceration and indoctrination shows that China is insecure, but that isn't the issue. The CCP naturally sees every threat as a threat to their rule. And they worry any small protest could snowball into lots of CCP members hanging from lamp posts.
The issue is whether the mass oppression works. And given that Manchuria was once a border region that now seems pretty secure as a part of core China, I don't assume that China's extreme measures won't work if China is allowed to keep at it for generations. I mean, how's Tibet doing these days? And can Hong Kongers actually win?
