AMNA NAWAZ: In China's vast Northwest Xinjiang Province, the U.S. says more than a million
Uyghur Muslims are being held in detention camps. The Chinese government says the goal
of this detention is what they call reeducation of extremists.
Tonight, in her first television interview, a Uyghur dissident describes this Chinese
repression as a repeat of the Holocaust.
Asiye Abdulahat admits leaking Chinese government documents published in international media
that revealed details of the campaign against the Uyghurs.
And she recently met with special correspondent Malcolm Brabant.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Asiye Abdulahat is at the top of China's most wanted list. Although
she has decided that publicity and hiding in plain sight are her best protection, we
met at a secret location in the Netherlands to maximize her security.
ASIYE ABDULAHAT, Uyghur Whistle-Blower (through translator): One day, I received death threats
via Facebook Messenger. In the message, this person said: If you don't stop what you are
doing right now, people will find your dismembered body inside the black trash can in front of
your House. We will kill you and chop you into pieces and throw you in the trash.
MALCOLM BRABANT: These top-secret documents are the reason Asiye is in peril.
The documents reveal how Uyghur inmates of the camps are locked up, brainwashed and punished.
They contain instructions to step up discipline and ensure there are no escapes. The papers
were leaked to a consortium of investigative journalists and published in numerous media
outlets, including The New York Times in November.
For human rights campaigners, the so-called China Cables were confirmation that the camps
were effectively prisons conducting psychological torture.
Asiye has lost contact with her source. She fears the worst, because the sentence for
leaking such documents is death.
How concerned are you for your safety?
ASIYE ABDULAHAT (through translator): When I decided to reveal myself, I forced myself
to forget the word worry. And that's because the person who sent me these documents has
sacrificed his life.
The act of passing these documents cost him his life. So, for me, talking about worries
is not really applicable.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Asiye used to be a government employee in Urumqi, the regional capital of
Xinjiang, the Uyghurs' home province 1,700 miles northwest of Beijing.
She left China for the Netherlands in 2009, after violent clashes between Uyghurs and
the Han Chinese majority. Asiye was granted asylum in the Netherlands, where she is now
studying the Dutch language.
Her revelations have generated some of the most intense international condemnation of
China in recent years.
Are you being courageous about this, or are you being foolish?
ASIYE ABDULAHAT (through translator): I don't think that I'm brave or I have done something
wrong. I am sure that I have done the right thing.
I don't think I'm different from anyone else. I'm simply a human being, the same as they
are, although, in this situation, the Uyghur community is experiencing horrible things.
Millions of Uyghurs are detained in concentration camps.
In these circumstances, the responsibility of being a whistle-blower landed on my shoulders.
I had to do it. It was my responsibility. It was essential because of the situation
facing the Uyghurs. So, it has nothing to do with my bravery or courage.
MALCOLM BRABANT: The internment camps were established in 2017, as part of President
Xi Jinping's so-called war against terror.
Critics believe a campaign of ethnic cleansing is under way, with the Uyghur being replaced
by majority Han Chinese. Beijing insists that camps like this in Xinjiang are nothing more
than reeducation centers.
But the House of Representatives is in no doubt about their true purpose.
Congressman Chris Smith:
REP. CHRIS SMITH (R-NJ): The mass internment of millions of people on a scale that has
not been seen since the Holocaust, children ripped from the warm embrace of their families,
to be indoctrinated in communist ideology and forced to renounce their religious culture
and language, rape, sexual abuse and forced abortions.
MALCOLM BRABANT: In early December, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill requiring President
Trump to toughen action against China until it reverses the Uyghur crackdown.
The bill, triggered by Asiye's revelations, also demands sanctions against senior Chinese
officials. It has yet to be passed by the Senate.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo believes the documents revealed by Asiye could be a turning
point.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. Secretary of State: These reports are consistent with an overwhelming
and growing body of evidence that the Chinese Communist Party is committing human rights
violations and abuses against individuals in mass detention.
We call on the Chinese government to immediately release all those who are arbitrarily detained,
and to end its draconian policies that have terrorized its own citizens in Xinjiang.
MALCOLM BRABANT: But the Chinese are standing firm.
Shohrat Zakir is the governor of Xinjiang province.
SHOHRAT ZAKIR, Governor, Xinjiang Province (through translator): When it comes to issues
about Xinjiang, the people of Xinjiang have the most say. Any attempt to destabilize Xinjiang
will be doomed. Any accusation and slander from the U.S. won't be able to hide the truth
of the development of human rights in Xinjiang, cannot stop the progress in unification of
people of all ethnic groups, and won't stop Xinjiang's prosperity and development.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Do you fear that, because the Uyghur are Muslims, that the West will
turn a blind eye to their persecution?
ASIYE ABDULAHAT (through translator): The Uyghur genocide is a repeat of the Jewish
Holocaust from World War II. And they promised it would never happen again. The world has
begun to slowly realize that Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs has nothing to do with other
identities. It's a crime against humanity.
LIU XIAOMING, Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom: I'm telling you what you -- the document,
so-called document you're talking about is pure fabrications.
MALCOLM BRABANT: In London, China's Ambassador Liu Xiaoming issued blunt denials, insisting
the Uyghurs' religion, Islam, was fully respected, despite evidence that dozens of mosques, such
as this one, have been destroyed.
LIU XIAOMING: Their ethnic traditions are fully respected. The purpose to set up this
training center is because there are some young people who have not yet -- they committed
minor crimes, not serious enough to be trialed, sent into prison.
So the government gave them opportunity to learn language, Mandarin, to be a good citizen
and effective worker.
MEN AND WOMEN (singing): If you're happy and you know it, say, yes, sir. Yes, sir!
LIU XIAOMING: There's no so-called labor camps. There's what we call vocational, education,
and training centers. They are there for the prevention of a terrorist.
MALCOLM BRABANT: To ram home the point, in mid-December, Chinese state television showed
paramilitary police conducting anti-terrorism exercises in Xinjiang. The drill apparently
lasted for seven days at high altitude, and was supposed to improve the troops' ability
to defeat insurgents in difficult terrain.
The Chinese accuse the Uyghur of being terrorists. What's your response to that?
ASIYE ABDULAHAT (through translator): Uyghurs are not terrorists. The Uyghur are victims
of the Chinese Communist Party's vested interests.
Now China labeled the people of Hong Kong as terrorists. But the people of Hong Kong
are fighting for their basic rights and freedom. They are protesting on the streets. The Uyghur
are no different. They are also fighting for their basic rights and freedom and against
injustice.
MALCOLM BRABANT: But while the United States is lambasting Beijing over the Uyghurs and
Hong Kong, it's also close to concluding a trade partnership with Beijing.
DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We also took the toughest ever action against
China, and, as a result, we just achieved a breakthrough on the trade deal, and we will
be signing it very shortly.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Are you happy with Donald Trump's policies regarding China?
ASIYE ABDULAHAT (through translator): I don't know whether President Trump will be able
to change China's strategy, or positively influence Chinese systemic reform, or whether
he will make China change its policies regarding the Uyghur.
But China is spreading communist ideology, and wants to be the leader of the world. This
is not only a threat for the Uyghurs or the U.S. It is a threat to the whole world.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Although another Chinese minority, the Tibetans, have long expressed
similar desires for freedom, and their vision of independence has been crushed, Asiye permits
herself a dream.
ASIYE ABDULAHAT (through translator): I hope China will reform its political system. I
hope that concentration camps will be closed. I hope the day will come when Uyghurs become
free and can make decisions about their own futures.
MALCOLM BRABANT: Asiye's immediate future involves constantly looking over her shoulder.
But she has faith in the Dutch authorities, and is gambling that the Chinese will not
harm her, because that would shine another light on the cause of her people.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in the Netherlands.