China's expansive mass surveillance system in the Uyghur region fundamentally relies on data centers, which quietly process biometric and behavioral data to target ethnic minorities. These facilities, despite their critical role in enabling atrocity crimes, remain the least scrutinized component of the digital architecture, often requiring compatibility with American technology.
Beijing's "Eastern Data, Western Computing" initiative accelerates this buildout, designating the region a "crucial component" of the Belt and Road Spatial Information Corridor to extend Chinese data infrastructure into Central Asia. The region also serves as a testing ground for digital authoritarianism, with comprehensive digitization of systems and surveillance triggers based on ethnic identity. Individuals identified as high risk face interrogation, coercive labor, or detention. For instance, the Yanqi Vocational Technical School uses U.S. technology for real-time student tracking, highlighting a gap in export controls for surveillance tech. China Telecom Xinjiang, a subsidiary of a U.S.-sanctioned entity, operates data centers for military and intelligence agencies. C4ADS recommends adding China Telecom and its subsidiaries to the Commerce Department’s Entity List and mandating post-shipment verification for dual-use technology exports to regions with documented atrocity crimes.
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