Coverup
Many CCP defenders claim that China has nothing to hide when it comes to their treatment of Uyghurs. However, China's reluctance to permit independent journalists to verify conditions firsthand suggests a different reality. There have been many instances of journalists having their investigations being interrupted, monitored, or stopped.
Here is a quote from China-based journalist Yanan Wang describing her experience:
“Both of the times we went there we arrived at the airport, we had a welcoming committee from the local authorities. They’re always very polite and professional. They say that “you’ve arrived in Xinjiang and we’re here to assist you in your reporting. Tell us what you’re working on so we can help you.” They offer us drives in their car and plenty of hospitality. Basically, from the moment we arrive, we’re followed by at least one car. There are a bunch of interesting scenarios that we came across. You can see that the local handlers are trying hard to be professional. They are members of the propaganda department, so they’re PR professionals. They don’t want to make it appear like it’s so stifling. At one point, we were taking photos and someone suddenly appeared on the scene to say he was a “concerned citizen.” He said he’d seen us taking photos and that it was an infringement of his privacy rights. He had this long monologue about privacy rights and about how it wasn’t right for us to take photos of him without his knowledge. We asked him, “Well, where are you in these photos?” and he’d go through all of them. He said we had to delete all of them. He’d say, “This is my brother,” or “This is my place of work, you have to delete it.” They had all of these interesting tactics to work around the idea that they were trying to obstruct our reporting and make it appear that someone who claims to be a concerned citizen.”
Leaked documentation from China, referred to as the “China Cables”, has revealed what was already obvious. China does not want anyone knowing anything about what goes on inside of the camps. Photos and videos unauthorized by the government are completely off-limits. Figure 1 is taken from the Telegram section of the China Cables, which is an operation manual for running these camps:
The entire Telegram Report can be read here:
Between closely monitoring journalists, disallowing them from seeing the inside of the camps, and making it a point of emphasis to have “strict secrecy” within the camps, it is clear that China is engaging in a coverup. The “Uyghurs are treated fine! This is all propaganda!” narrative completely falls apart in light of fact that China is unwilling to allow any sort of thorough independent investigation.