zhōng guó中国xīn jiāng新疆“guó jiā mì mì国家秘密”guī dìng规定yǐn fā引发rén quán人权dān yōu担忧
China’s new ‘state secrets’ rules in Xinjiang have now taken effect.
Many people worry that this will make local information control even stricter.
The Uyghurs mainly live in Xinjiang in northwest China, and they have their own language, culture, and religion.
For many years, Xinjiang has had very strong security management and surveillance.
The new rules place many kinds of content under the category of ‘secrets,’ not only government and military information, but possibly also political, economic, scientific and technological, and social life-related content.
As a result, everyday communication, religious activities, cultural expression, and even posting messages online may be checked more strictly.
The rules also require grassroots organizations, communities, and work units to take part in management, and to use artificial intelligence and big data to monitor information.
Critics say this will make people more afraid to speak and make it harder for the outside world to understand the real situation in Xinjiang.
This will also make it harder for the international community to judge the facts when discussing human rights issues in Xinjiang, because there is less public information.