President Xi ‘linked to crackdown on Muslims’
LEAKED records have linked China’s President Xi Jinping to a state crackdown on Uyghur Muslims, experts said last night.
The documents show how high-level Communist Party officials encouraged the oppression of the minority group in the Xinjiang region.
The Chinese government has repeatedly denied that it is committing genocide against Uyghurs, arguing its aim is to root out Islamist extremism in the area.
But critics say that more than 1.5million people have been subjected to abuse and brainwashing in a network of internment camps as part of an attempt to forcibly integrate the province with the rest of China. Named the Xinjiang Papers, the leaked records have been published by the UK-based campaigners Uyghur Tribunal. In one speech, President Xi ordered that ‘those who should be seized should be seized, and those who should be sentenced should be sentenced’.
Later, he told comrades: ‘The entire country’s national security and the achievement of China’s major goals in the 21st century are in jeopardy if the situation in southern Xinjiang cannot be brought under control.’ Experts consulted by the tribunal said the records demonstrated how from 201 , top officials began outlining strategies for mass interments, a campaign of sterilisation and forced labour.
The revelations have prompted some MPs to reiterate calls for a boycott of February’s Beijing Winter Olympics.