China has established more than 380 detention centers in Xinjiang, a much larger number than previously estimated, and has even been expanding them in recent years, according to research released today by an Australian think tank.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute says it has found more than 380 “suspected detention facilities” in Xinjiang, where China is holding more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Turkic-speaking Muslim residents.
According to Australian researchers, the number of these facilities is about 40 percent higher than previous estimates, and the number of detention camps continues to grow despite China’s claims that many Uighurs have been released.
Using satellite imagery, eyewitness accounts, media reports, and official documents, the Strategic Policy Institute notes that “between July 2019 and July 2020, at least 61 new and expanded detention center facilities were observed.
Fourteen more facilities are under construction in 2020, and approximately 70 have had their fences or walls removed, indicating a change of use or closure.
U.S. lawmakers recently passed a bill to ban Xinjiang goods from being imported into the United States, citing suspected systematic forced labor in Xinjiang.
But Beijing recently released a white paper defending its Xinjiang policy, claiming that training programs, work programs, and better education in Xinjiang mean that life in the region has improved and that these so-called training centers are necessary facilities for eliminating extremism.
Following the release of the latest report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times quoted “sources” as saying that Clive Hamilton and Alex Joske, who wrote the report for the Institute, would be banned from entering China.
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