![\"One](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/50d7268c3da1b88f5b9fdb1246136f3682b59a42\/733_0_1827_1096\/master\/1827.jpg?width=465&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=e624e1057ac873e8aea80c9dd8d7284a\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nOne of the leaked images. China\u2019s ruling Communist party is accused of detaining more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. Photograph: BBCVincent Ni<\/a> China affairs correspondentWed 25 May 2022 00.42 BSTFirst published on Tue 24 May 2022 13.30 BST<\/p>\n\n\n\n A new trove of hacked Chinese police photographs and documents shedding light on the human toll of Beijing\u2019s treatment of its Uyghur minority in Xinjiang<\/a> has been published as the UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, visits cities in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The data trove \u2013 referred to as the Xinjiang police files and published by a consortium of media including the BBC<\/a> \u2013 dates back to 2018 and was passed on by hackers to Dr Adrian Zenz, a US-based scholar and activist, who shared it with international media earlier this year. It includes thousands of photographs of detained people and details a shoot-to-kill policy for people who try to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ruling Communist party is accused of detaining more than 1 million Uyghurs<\/a> and other Muslim minorities in the far-western region as part of a years-long crackdown the US and politicians in other western countries have labelled a \u201cgenocide\u201d. In addition to mass detentions, researchers and campaigners accuse Chinese authorities of waging a campaign of forced labour, coerced sterilisation and the destruction of Uyghur cultural heritage in Xinjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese officials and diplomats call such allegations \u201clies of the century\u201d and insist that Beijing\u2019s policy in Xinjiang is concerned with counter-terrorism, de-radicalisation and vocational training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate academic paper published on Tuesday<\/a>, Zenz wrote that the newly leaked files explained how political paranoia that promoted exaggerated threat perceptions had led to the pre-emptive internment of large numbers of ordinary citizens. He was targeted by Chinese sanctions<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In October, the Associated Press reported<\/a> that Chinese authorities had scaled back many of the most controversial methods adopted in Xinjiang. \u201cThe panic that gripped the region a few years ago has subsided considerably, and a sense of normality is creeping back in,\u201d its report said.Sign up to First Edition, our free daily newsletter \u2013 every weekday morning at 7am BSThttps:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/email\/form\/plaintone\/morning-briefing<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Tuesday China\u2019s ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, tweeted<\/a>: \u201cSuch a shame for BBC to carry the fabricated story about so-called \u2018detention camps\u2019. Pathetic for the media, in cahoots with the notorious rumour monger, to once again spread disinformation about Xinjiang.\u201dAdvertisementhttps:\/\/0e7c95cdb23f2f4fe8d679b6d96aac31.safeframe.googlesyndication.com\/safeframe\/1-0-38\/html\/container.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tuesday\u2019s publication of the mass data leak coincided with Bachelet\u2019s controversial trip to Xinjiang. The former Chilean president told a group of China-based diplomats on Monday that her trip was aimed at promoting, protecting and respecting human rights, according to Bloomberg News<\/a>, citing sources who attended the invitation-only online meeting. She did not say it was an \u201cinvestigation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bachelet is the first top UN human rights diplomat to visit China<\/a> since 2005, and critics of the Beijing government have expressed fears that the authorities would organise what they called a \u201cPotemkin-style tour\u201d for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The US and the UK have both expressed scepticism over what could be realistically achieved on Bachelet\u2019s trip. The British ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, tweeted on Monday that she had \u201cstressed the importance of unfettered access to Xinjiang and private conversations with its people,\u201d in her call with the UN rights chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said on Tuesday that the leaked files contained \u201cshocking details of China\u2019s human rights violations\u201d against the Uyghur Muslim population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe reiterate our longstanding expectation that China grants the UN high commissioner for human rights full and unfettered access to the region so that she can conduct a thorough assessment of the facts on the ground, and we are following her visit this week closely,\u201d Truss said in a statement. \u201cIf such access is not forthcoming, the visit will only serve to highlight China\u2019s attempts to hide the truth of its actions in Xinjiang.\u201dAdvertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who held an online meeting on Tuesday with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, called for a transparent investigation after \u201cshocking reports and new evidence of very serious human rights violations in Xinjiang\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuman rights are a fundamental part of the international order and Germany is committed to protecting them worldwide,\u201d Baerbock said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important that these accusations, which have been known for a long time, are addressed by the Chinese side, and I made that very, very clear in this morning\u2019s discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Germany\u2019s economy minister Robert Habeck called the latest reports of internment, mistreatment and forced labor of Uyghurs \u201cparticularly shocking\u201d. Habeck said Germany for years had shied away from looking too closely at the problematic human rights record of its close trading partner, but that the country\u2019s new center-left government was taking a different approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Germany would scrutinize environmental, social and human rights aspects when considering German companies\u2019 requests for loan guarantees for their investments in China, he said. \u201cWe will also examine very closely Chinese firms\u2019 takeover bids in Germany,\u201d he added, saying one recent offer was prohibited while another was withdrawn by the company after questions were raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/c9b0f9e04796414fd6179dcdb540aa3f69b6f8f2\/0_0_7230_4338\/master\/7230.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=d07b06de6a0c5a343b2e2a22015095bc\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n