Influencing Governance in Xinjiang: How to Understand and Utilise Correlations between Global Discourses and post-2016 CCP Policy Changes

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The post-2017 trajectory of Chinese governance in Xinjiang has been described as agenocide or crime against humanity with increasing frequency among scholars,investigative journalists, and human rights advocacy groups, and declared a genocideby the United States. While this international discourse has not prompted radicalchange, reactions of PRC party leaders in diplomatic arenas and PRC state mediasuggest that close attention is paid to these judgements. PRC statements regardingXinjiang policy often cite recent judgements by other countries, in particular the UnitedStates. The link between international criticism of Xinjiang policies and the PRC thenchanging these policies has not yet been explored but has been anecdotallyrecognised by Xinjiang researchers.This study will analyse the nature of the dynamic relationship between internationalpressure and changes in Xinjiang policy, from Chen Quanguo's appointment asCommunist Party Secretary of Xinjiang in August 2016 onwards, through a closeanalysis of documents. This includes on the one hand, documents published or signedin diplomatic arenas by governments external to China, statements from individualgovernment spokespersons, and publications from human rights organisations; and,on the other hand, documents published by or leaked from the PRC, white papers andpolicy documents, state media reports on policy, and party engagement in diplomaticarenas. On the basis of legal anthropology and document ethnography, this researchwill elucidate the relationship between international discourse and Xinjiang policychanges. This will illustrate how diplomacy and human rights advocacy mayencourage positive change for the people of Xinjiang.