China to 'Big Brother' Xinjiang region with new system

By Emre Aytekin

ANKARA

Chinese authorities are planning to introduce a new data collecting system in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, according to the latest report of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The report, which includes interviews with local people, claims that the system will work without the knowledge of the local people.

Maya Wang, senior China researcher at HRW, said, “For the first time, we are able to demonstrate that the Chinese government’s use of big data and predictive policing not only blatantly violates privacy rights, but also enables officials to arbitrarily detain people."

The authorities in Xinjiang increased mass surveillance measures across the region, sending tens of thousands of Uyghur people to “political education centers" since April 2016, the group said.

The HRW also said since August 2016, the Xinjiang Bureau of Public Security had posted procurement notices confirming the establishment of the “Integrated Joint Operations Platform” (IJOP).

The IJOP is a system that receives data on individuals from many different sources.

An interviewee, whose name is not mentioned in the report, said he had observed the IJOP computers in the past year.

"I saw with my own eyes, on designated computers… the names, gender, ID numbers, occupation, familial relations, whether that person is trusted, not trusted, detained, subjected to political education (and year, month, date) for every Uighur in that district," he said.

"Those detained or not trusted, their color [coding] is different. Also, the content of the form is different depending on what has [already] been filled in. For example, for the Uighur who have passports: when they got it, where did they go, how long did they stay, when did they come back, did they give their passports [to the police], did they come back from abroad… the reasons for travelling abroad such as family visits, tourism, pursuing studies, business, or other."

China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region -- home to many ethnic minority groups, including Uighur Turks -- is predominantly known as East Turkestan in Turkey.

Uighur, a Turkic group that makes up around 45 percent of the population of Xinjiang, has accused China in the past several years of carrying out repressive policies that restrain their religious, commercial and cultural activities.