HRF strongly condemns China’s new secrecy regulation in the Uyghur Region, which further criminalizes the disclosure of information about human rights abuses to journalists, investigators, or a foreign government. The regulation tightens an already heavily restricted information environment.

Since March 1, government officials with access to classified information have been required to undergo “demystification” periods when leaving their positions, barring them from international travel or emigration, for life if necessary. Townships in the Uyghur Region must appoint secrecy officers, whose work will be amplified by AI-powered monitoring systems to flag information that leaves state networks.

For years, demographic datasets and testimony from former officials and guards has helped document detention camps, birth rate suppression, and labor transfers in the Uyghur Region, especially in the absence of independent investigations.

By restricting insiders and classifying aggregated data, the secrecy regulation legally blocks informants from exposing crucial information about rights violations. Beijing is structurally insulating itself from scrutiny, flouting international norms of accountability and transparency.