China cables

Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

A cache of leaked classified Chinese government documents, published in November 2019, detailing the operational rules of Xinjiang's mass internment camps.
Who leaked the China Cables?
How do the China Cables differ from the Xinjiang Papers?
Has China acknowledged the documents?

Updated June 22, 2026

A cache of leaked classified Chinese government documents, published in November 2019, detailing the operational rules of Xinjiang's mass internment camps.

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Timeline

16 November 2019
The leak followed the earlier New York Times publication () of the separate "Xinjiang Papers." Beijing dismissed the China Cables as "fabrication," while res…
31 August 2022
The cables have been cited in policy debates leading to sanctions under the US Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (2020) and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (…

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In November 2019, the ICIJ coordinated 17 media partners across 14 countries to publish the China Cables, exposing internal directives signed by Xinjiang official Zhu Hailun.

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Timeline

16 November 2019

The leak followed the earlier New York Times publication () of the separate "Xinjiang Papers." Beijing dismissed the China Cables as "fabrication," while res…

31 August 2022

The cables have been cited in policy debates leading to sanctions under the US Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (2020) and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (…

Research it like a delegate

The China Cables are a set of classified Chinese government documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and published in November 2019. They consist of an operations manual ("telegram") issued by Zhu Hailun, then deputy-secretary of the Xinjiang Communist Party, and four intelligence bulletins. Together they offer one of the most detailed internal accounts of how the Xinjiang internment system for Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims is run.

Key contents include:

Explicit instructions to operate the camps as prisons with strict secrecy, including double-locked doors, video surveillance with no blind spots, and prevention of escapes.
A points-based behavior scoring system governing detainees' ideological transformation, Mandarin study, and discipline, which determines length of detention.
Guidance that detainees must serve at least one year before being assessed for release.
Use of the Integrated Joint Operations Platform (IJOP), a predictive-policing data system, to flag individuals for investigation, including those who had simply travelled abroad or used certain apps.
One bulletin recorded that 15,683 "suspicious" people from southern Xinjiang were sent to "education and training" in a single week in June 2017.

The leak followed the earlier New York Times publication (16 November 2019) of the separate "Xinjiang Papers." Beijing dismissed the China Cables as "fabrication," while researchers including Adrian Zenz and James Leibold authenticated the documents.

The cables have been cited in policy debates leading to sanctions under the US Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (2020) and Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (2021), EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime designations in March 2021, and the UN OHCHR Xinjiang assessment released 31 August 2022, which found possible crimes against humanity. For MUN and research purposes the China Cables are typically treated as primary-source evidence of state policy rather than mere allegations.

Frequently asked questions

Who leaked the China Cables?

The source has never been publicly identified. The documents were passed to exiled Uyghurs and then to the ICIJ, which coordinated authentication and publication with partner outlets in November 2019.

How do the China Cables differ from the Xinjiang Papers?

The Xinjiang Papers, published by the New York Times on 16 November 2019, are internal speeches and directives including remarks by Xi Jinping. The China Cables are operational manuals and intelligence bulletins focused on running the camps.

Has China acknowledged the documents?

Beijing has called them fabrications, but independent scholars such as Adrian Zenz and James Leibold reviewed the materials and concluded they are authentic Chinese Communist Party documents.