Highlights: In the Xinjiang autonomous region, China has taken mass surveillance to the extreme. Using sophisticated technology, police track down every move by Uighurs and other Turkic and Muslim minorities in the name of counterterrorism. Maya Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, deciphers the methods used by the authorities. She calls for an international and independent investigation in Xinjiang, but how do we convince China to accept it? The question is just whether there is the will to do so in the Human Rights Council.

In the Xinjiang autonomous region, China has taken mass surveillance to the extreme. In a new investigation, the NGO Human Rights Watch illustrates how, thanks to sophisticated technologies,...

China: Xinjiang, a laboratory for high-tech tracking of Uyghurs

A woman protests in Berlin for an end to the oppression of Uighurs in China, including Xinjiang, September 1, 2020. AP - Markus Schreiber

Text by: Heike Schmidt Follow

3 min

In the Xinjiang autonomous region, China has taken mass surveillance to the extreme. In a new investigation, Human Rights Watch illustrates how, using sophisticated technology, police track down every move by Uighurs and other Turkic and Muslim minorities in the name of counterterrorism. Maya Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch, deciphers the methods used by the authorities.

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RFI: Does your new investigation provide proof that in Xinjiang, it is enough to listen to suras from the Koran on your phone to be arrested?

Maya Wang: That's right. We have scientifically analyzed a database that the police use. Of course, we have been documenting crimes against humanity committed in Xinjiang since 2017. We knew that residents were detained and imprisoned just because their phones contained Islamic preaching. But this new investigation shows that the authorities consider the recording of sermons and recitations of the Koran to be dangerous and extremist. We identified it in one of their official databases, and we now understand how surveillance works.

What does this database of the Chinese authorities to which you were able to have access contain?

We reviewed a list of 50,000 files classified as violent or extremist by the police. 9% of these files include violent content, bloody scenes such as throat slits. 4% contain calls for violence. But this is still a very small proportion. More than half, 57% to be precise, are mere religious texts, including recitations of the Koran, which are not extremist or violent.

In the eyes of Chinese police, what exactly do the terms "violent" or "extremist" mean?

This is precisely the problem in China and particularly in Xinjiang: the Chinese government claims to fight terrorism and extremism, but these terms are defined in a very vague way. Often, this is not a spread of violent or extremist content or calls for violence. If you criticize the government, you can be accused of being an extremist. Anti-terrorism laws are extremely vaguely worded in China. But in Xinjiang, the authorities even go beyond these laws and often act illegally. Under the banner of counter-terrorism, almost everything is considered terrorism.

Can we say that the smartphone facilitates totalitarian spying on citizens?

This is what our study demonstrates. The smartphone has become the best way to monitor the population. What is shocking in our investigation is also the extent and speed with which the police know how to analyze all the contents of the phones. In Urumqi, the capital (3.5 million inhabitants), they examined 1.2 million phones no less than 11 million times in just nine months. Imagine how many agents would be needed if it had to be done manually. It would be almost impossible, but the technology allows you to check the contents of your mobile very quickly. Xinjiang's history demonstrates why surveillance is problematic. A society can be repressed with simple and sophisticated technical means. Each time, the state goes one step further. At each stage, freedom is further eradicated in a very intrusive way.

Human Rights Watch calls for an international and independent investigation in Xinjiang, but how do we convince China to accept it?

Last October, the UN Human Rights Council wanted to pass a resolution to discuss the situation in Xinjiang. But this failed, because too many states were against it. But we hope that in the next sessions, starting in June, governments like the France will take the lead in calling for a resolution, discussing and establishing a mechanism to scrutinize China's human rights abuses, especially in Xinjiang. It is feasible, the question is just whether there is the will to do so in the Human Rights Council.

" READ ALSO – Xinjiang: The "Chinese dream" became the nightmare of the Uyghurs

China: Xinjiang, a laboratory for high-tech tracking of Uyghurs

China: Xinjiang, a laboratory for high-tech tracking of Uyghurs

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