Chen Quanguo, the former party secretary of Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region has been shown the door by Xi Jinping after the 20th Communist Party of China (CPC) Congress that closed on Saturday. Reportedly, Chen’s name is missing from the newly elected Central Committee, which is regarded as China’s top leadership body.
Chen who is only 66 is much below the unofficial retirement age of 68 that Xi has used as a baseline throughout most of his tenure. The fact that Chen’s ouster was deliberate can be gauged by the fact that 72-year-old Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission has been kept in the committee while 69-year-old foreign minister Wang Yi also keeps his position.
The CPC leader is regarded by many as the architect of the ‘Uyghur genocide’ that continues to take place in the Xinjiang province in some shape or form even today.
However, prior to ruling the region with an iron fist, Chen ruled over Tibet as the CPC Commmittteee Secretary from 2011 to 2016. He is the only person in CPC to have served as party secretary for both the autonomous regions.
As reported by WION, the Xinjiang Police Files, a document stolen from internment camps in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region revealed the true extent of the campaign that Chen was undertaking.
Read more: Leaked documents reveal China’s plot to oppress the Uyghur Muslims
The files contain information on more than 20,000 Uyghurs who are under detention. One of the documents is a speech given by Chen in May 2017 while serving as the party secretary for the region from August 2016 to December 2021.
According to him, the Chinese government’s campaign of repression in Xinjiang was not intended to purge the region of criminals but rather was an “extinction war” against the Uyghur people. His description of the Uyghurs as an “enemy class”
The former official further stated that those detainees who were given sentences of less than five years should be mobilised for “learning law” and “bilingual learning,” and that they should only be released once they had attained a sufficient study level, regardless of how long that took.
As reported by WION, Xi Jinping on multiple occasions has made it clear that Islam can only exist in China if it is reformed according to Chinese orientation. And according to the documents, Chen was merely following the line set by the likes of Xi in the upper hierarchy.
Read More: Xi Jinping says that Islam in China must be Chinese in orientation
His ouster, therefore, remains a mystery at this stage. Perhaps, Chen had served his purpose and was no longer beneficial for Xi who might attempt to take a much sterner stance against the minorities, having secure all but a third term for himself as the top leader of the party.
(With inputs from agencies)
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