In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony
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- Create Date：2021-09-30 19:21:20
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Darren Byler
- ISBN：1735913626
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Summary
How China used a network of surveillance to intern over a million people and produce a system of control previously unknown in human history
Novel forms of state violence and colonization have been unfolding for years in China’s vast northwestern region， where more than a million and a half Uyghurs and others have vanished into internment camps and associated factories。 Based on hours of interviews with camp survivors and workers， thousands of government documents， and over a decade of research， Darren Byler， one of the leading experts on Uyghur society and Chinese surveillance systems， uncovers how a vast network of technology provided by private companies―facial surveillance， voice recognition， smartphone data―enabled the state and corporations to blacklist millions of Uyghurs because of their religious and cultural practice starting in 2017。 Charged with “pre-crimes” that sometimes consist only of installing social media apps， detainees were put in camps to “study”―forced to praise the Chinese government， renounce Islam， disavow families， and labor in factories。 Byler travels back to Xinjiang to reveal how the convenience of smartphones have doomed the Uyghurs to catastrophe， and makes the case that the technology is being used all over the world， sold by tech companies from Beijing to Seattle producing new forms of unfreedom for vulnerable people around the world。
Novel forms of state violence and colonization have been unfolding for years in China’s vast northwestern region， where more than a million and a half Uyghurs and others have vanished into internment camps and associated factories。 Based on hours of interviews with camp survivors and workers， thousands of government documents， and over a decade of research， Darren Byler， one of the leading experts on Uyghur society and Chinese surveillance systems， uncovers how a vast network of technology provided by private companies―facial surveillance， voice recognition， smartphone data―enabled the state and corporations to blacklist millions of Uyghurs because of their religious and cultural practice starting in 2017。 Charged with “pre-crimes” that sometimes consist only of installing social media apps， detainees were put in camps to “study”―forced to praise the Chinese government， renounce Islam， disavow families， and labor in factories。 Byler travels back to Xinjiang to reveal how the convenience of smartphones have doomed the Uyghurs to catastrophe， and makes the case that the technology is being used all over the world， sold by tech companies from Beijing to Seattle producing new forms of unfreedom for vulnerable people around the world。
Reviews
Kathryn E Hagen
，
This book contains essential information。 Darren Byler describes the horrific treatment minorities receive in the detention camps where they are imprisoned。 Surveillance is high-tech。 Cameras are everywhere in Xinjiang （northwest China） and are designed to focus on the features of minority citizens such as the Uighurs。 Criminal offenses include wearing a veil， worshipping at a mosque， or having religious apps on one's phone。 One bucket in the middle of a cell serves as a restroom for a large gro This book contains essential information。 Darren Byler describes the horrific treatment minorities receive in the detention camps where they are imprisoned。 Surveillance is high-tech。 Cameras are everywhere in Xinjiang （northwest China） and are designed to focus on the features of minority citizens such as the Uighurs。 Criminal offenses include wearing a veil， worshipping at a mosque， or having religious apps on one's phone。 One bucket in the middle of a cell serves as a restroom for a large group of people。 Meals consist of broth and a bun or two。 Prisoners are instructed to say， "Thank you， Uncle Xi" when they receive it。 Women are given pills to stop menstruation so that the camp doesn't have to supply related hygiene products。This is the second book I've read recently about the atrocities that occur in these camps。 The first was Made in China by Amelia Pang。 Her interviewees describe the horrendous living conditions and physical abuse they received while imprisoned。 Not everyone survives。I highly recommend reading In the Camps and Made in China。 The first step to addressing this dreadful problem is to inform the world of its existence。 Byler's interviews with former prisoners and/or their families were well-organized and illustrative。 。。。more
Jordan
，
Review to come closer to publication！ A very thoughtful， important， truly horrifying read。 I would recommend it to anyone looking to read more about current events or uses of technologies， though do be aware that it is a brutal， heartbreaking book at times， and hard to read of these atrocities。
David
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As I write this， it is about six weeks before the scheduled publication date of this book， which I received a free advance review copy of。 So far， the only reviews here on Goodreads are serious evaluations written by people who also got advance copies。 However， eventually this book will receive a wider distribution and more publicity。 When it does， I will be interested to see if this Goodreads page is visited by “wumao”， who will post critical reviews of this book。 If you've been paying attentio As I write this， it is about six weeks before the scheduled publication date of this book， which I received a free advance review copy of。 So far， the only reviews here on Goodreads are serious evaluations written by people who also got advance copies。 However， eventually this book will receive a wider distribution and more publicity。 When it does， I will be interested to see if this Goodreads page is visited by “wumao”， who will post critical reviews of this book。 If you've been paying attention to Chinese affairs， or have Chinese heritage yourself， you probably know what a wumao is already， and you may skip over the next bit。 However， I hope that this book will attract the attention of some people who are not otherwise regular consumers of news and analysis about China， and so may not be aware of the existence of wumao and their activities on the Internet。 If this is you， here is a few paragraphs about them。“Wumao” is Chinese for “fifty cents”， and is allegedly the price that an army of Chinese flacks and trolls receive for each posting they make in defense of the Chinese Communist Party。 Both the quality and tactics of wumao vary greatly – a lot are simply lazy and bad at what they do， some of them launch sophisticated and aggressive attacks。 Wumao writing in English is sometimes （not always） identifiable by stilted phrasing， outdated idioms， and comically bad grammar， spelling， and punctuation。In my opinion， the appearance， or lack of appearance， of wumao on this page may be something of a barometer of the importance of Goodreads in the world at the intersection of geopolitics and social media。 If they fail to appear， it may indicate that the time has past when a mere book could alter a conversation or harm a great power。 If a rash of poorly-written one-star reviews of this book appear， clearly written by people who have not actually read it， Goodreads （and those responsible for writing and publishing this book） can take heart in the fact that a book with solid research and good writing can still comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable。This year， the wumao army has been busy advancing the absurd accusation that the COVID virus was created at Fort Detrick in Maryland。 Read about it here。If you are interested in knowing a “wumao” posting when you see it， there's a good 2015 article from Foreign Policy here。About the book itself:If the newspaper is （as the cliché has it） the first rough draft of history， then this book is an excellent attempt at a second draft。 It attempts to collate recent book-length and specialized-journal scholarship on China's mass incarceration of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities with first-hand testimony of the few individuals who were first unfortunate enough to be scooped up and then chewed up by the berserk totalitarian penal bureaucracy， strong enough to live through the experience， and finally lucky enough to escape or be set free to tell the tale。Many of those who found themselves ensnared in this lunatic nightmare were jailed as “pre-criminals”， a concept that only a few short years ago seemed only to belong in particularly unbelievable science fiction movies。 Using certain popular apps of foreign origin （like Whatsapp） might get you branded a pre-criminal。 Using a Virtual Private Network likewise。 Visiting a mosque or taking an interest in Muslim spirituality also might put you into the pre-criminal class， as might wandering out of the neighborhood where the Public Security Bureau has confined you （and tracks your movements using AI， biometric， and facial recognition technology）。In these camps， pre-criminals and others are forbidden for hours to speak or clean up the communal bucket in which they and their cellmates relieve themselves。 They must sit in a single position for hours on end， sing songs in praise of the Chinese Communist Party without ceasing， and repeatedly “confess” their own failings in sessions of “self-criticism”。 If you are co-operative and fortunate enough， you may be chosen for the relative comfort of factory work at slave wages， perhaps making gloves for the export market。 This will at least get you out of the re-education camp and， maybe， even allow you， on your day off， to visit your family in the place where you used to live。 But of course the visit is likely to be stressed and unrelaxing， as everyone in attendance will be afraid of saying or doing something that will get more members of the family delivered into the nightmare of re-education。The author makes a very good point at the end of the book: The newly-improved instruments of Chinese oppression used platforms developed at Microsoft tech incubators。 Now， these instruments are returning to us in an “improved” fashion to help us respond to the coronavirus pandemic。 We should remember that this benefit for us has been achieved in part through the oppression of others。The book ends like this: “To counteract the increasing banality， the everydayness， of automatic racialization， the harms of biometric surveillance around the world must first be made apparent。 The lives of the detainable must be made visible at the edge of power over life。 Then the role of world-class engineers， investors， and public relations firms in the unthinking of human experience， in designing for human reeducation， must be made clear。 The webs of interconnection – the way Xinjiang stands behind Seattle – must be made thinkable。”Read a 2019 article by the author of this book about forced labor in China here。 Much of the information in the article appears in the book in a modified form。I received a free advance electronic copy of this book from Colombia Global Reports via Netgalley。 。。。more
Michael Hassel
，
In the Camps by Darren Byler I recently retired after working for over 43 years。 Beginning in 1981， I started going to China on business。 In those 40 years， I must have gone to China over 50 times， as well as six times on holiday with my wife to China。 China was an important part of my business and my wife and I enjoy Chinese art。 I even lived in Taiwan for 3 years and became somewhat fluent in Chinese at least reading and writing。 During those years， I was careful to avoid any discussion about In the Camps by Darren Byler I recently retired after working for over 43 years。 Beginning in 1981， I started going to China on business。 In those 40 years， I must have gone to China over 50 times， as well as six times on holiday with my wife to China。 China was an important part of my business and my wife and I enjoy Chinese art。 I even lived in Taiwan for 3 years and became somewhat fluent in Chinese at least reading and writing。 During those years， I was careful to avoid any discussion about Xinjiang region or the Uyghur people with Chinese friends over beers while I was in their country。 This book; In the Camps by Darren Byler is an excellent primer for someone wanting to begin to learn about the terrible plight of the Uyghur people in their own land。 Mr。 Byler has been able to speak to people who were interned in these “camps” and learn about the physical and mental torture they are put through。 What I do not understand is what does the Chinese government expect the outcome of this “re-education” to be？ Certainly， I would not expect anyone who survives to become a loyal “Han-like” Chinese citizen。 There was much that was new to me including the forced sterilization and abortions going on to reduce and perhaps eliminate the Uyghur population。 Also， the Chinese are employing AI to an incredible extent to monitor Uyghurs threw their face， phones and even their blood。 The Han Chinese are arresting and imprisoning Uyghurs as “pre-criminals” because they have used a VPN or a social media app。 Often these prison terms are for an indefinite time and now are reduced if a person is able and willing to work in new factories being built next to the prisons。 In these factories the Uyghurs salaries are far less than standard wages。 Even worse， now the government is placing Uyghur children into special camps when their parents are taken away。I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to understand the plight of the Uyghurs。 I am not sure how I or anyone can truly help other than to be informed。 。。。more
April
，
The title of this one made me do a double take; high tech penal colony？ Many of the comparisons made throughout the book align with how Hitler’s Germany oppressed and dehumanized the Jewish people。 It is disheartening to read that not only is this still happening on the same scale， if not bigger， but that it is still happening without any global intervention。 Dare I say without even sufficient global acknowledgment。 Overall this book was thoughtful and enlightening， however， could stand to under The title of this one made me do a double take; high tech penal colony？ Many of the comparisons made throughout the book align with how Hitler’s Germany oppressed and dehumanized the Jewish people。 It is disheartening to read that not only is this still happening on the same scale， if not bigger， but that it is still happening without any global intervention。 Dare I say without even sufficient global acknowledgment。 Overall this book was thoughtful and enlightening， however， could stand to undergo another round of editing。 I enjoy the authors writing style， but at times the tone of the book reminded me of a statistical report and at times this pulled me from the stories。 Thanks to the author for his hard work and for shining a light on this issue。 Thanks to net galley for this ARC in exchange for a honest and unbiased review。 。。。more
Jessica
，
In the Camps is a great book， detailing the persecution of Muslims in China。 Through the use of smart technology， citizens are tracked， persecuted， and imprisoned in reeducation camps。 Those that are allowed to transfer from the reeducation camps are sent to labor in factories with little to no pay。 Author Darren Byler does a great job sharing the stories of survivors of the camps and slave labor， revealing how atrocious the humanitarian situation is in China in regards to Ayughar and other mino In the Camps is a great book， detailing the persecution of Muslims in China。 Through the use of smart technology， citizens are tracked， persecuted， and imprisoned in reeducation camps。 Those that are allowed to transfer from the reeducation camps are sent to labor in factories with little to no pay。 Author Darren Byler does a great job sharing the stories of survivors of the camps and slave labor， revealing how atrocious the humanitarian situation is in China in regards to Ayughar and other minorities。 The media minimizes the case to the American public。 How much of the same technology in social media and American smartphones are used to persecute Chinese-Kazaks？ 。。。more
Venky
，
Erbaqyt Otarbai， a middle aged Kazakh man who called Tacheng， a town six hours away from Urumchi， was unloading his truck in an ore yard。 It was the 18th of August 2017。 Chinese security guards pounced on him and before he could even fathom what was unraveling， they started interrogating Otarbai about the WhatsApp and Facebook applications on his mobile phone。 Inspite of his fervent entreaties that all the supposedly ‘offending’ apps were downloaded while he was in Kazakhstan and was primarily f Erbaqyt Otarbai， a middle aged Kazakh man who called Tacheng， a town six hours away from Urumchi， was unloading his truck in an ore yard。 It was the 18th of August 2017。 Chinese security guards pounced on him and before he could even fathom what was unraveling， they started interrogating Otarbai about the WhatsApp and Facebook applications on his mobile phone。 Inspite of his fervent entreaties that all the supposedly ‘offending’ apps were downloaded while he was in Kazakhstan and was primarily for the purposes of communicating with his friends back home， Otarbai was dragged away by the cops and made to undergo a “physical。” Photos of his face from every conceivable angle were followed by blood samples， fingerprinting and voice recording。 In the dead of the night， at around 2。00 A。M he was deposited in a ‘detention’ camp， upon entering which there was delivered a welcoming blow to the top of his head with an iron club。 A bloodied Otarbai spent ninety eights in what can only be described as the Chamber of horrors。 Hundreds of similar detainees occupied cramped and unhygienic cells。 Shackled by manacles， the ‘prisoners’ were repeatedly whacked on their posteriors with clubs 1。5 metres long。 The lights in the cells were never turned off and before every meal， the inmates were required to sing full throated patriotic songs in Chinese。 “Thank You Uncle Xi （xiexie Xi dada）” was a common refrain。” “In The Camps” by Darren Byler， a postdoctoral researcher in the ChinaMade project at the University of Colorado Boulder， and an authority on research focusing on Uighur dispossession， infrastructural power and “terror capitalism” in the Xinjiang province of Central Asia， is a harrowing collection of the repression and unimaginable torment experienced by the minority Uighurs as a result of their internment by the People’s Republic of China。 Under the garb of “reeducation” and trumpeting a purging of “religious extremism” and “fundamentalism”， Xi Jinping’s China has established a sophisticated surveillance driven military-industry network in whose murky complexes more than 1。8 million helpless and hapless Uighurs， Kazhaks and Huis are imprisoned and brainwashed。 As Byler writes， post the 9-11 cataclysm， China embarked on a project titled ‘Golden Shield。’ Active state participation and encouragement combined with the aspirations of face and voice recognition technology companies， led to the creation of an extraordinarily complicated and convoluted structure of surveillance that discriminated people on the basis of their religious affinities。 Xinjiang that became an epicentre of discrimination where the Uighurs inhabiting Urumchi and other provinces had their passports snatched before being subject to a round the clock intrusive surveillance。 The camps themselves are euphemisms for monstrosity。 Walls are plastered with slogans exhorting the camp inmates to abhor religious extremism。 The detainees trudge into classrooms while they are still handcuffed and spend the entire day learning the hagiography of the Party and the Premier Xi Jinping。 The ‘dehumanization’ processes are beyond the vilest of Orwellian imaginations even。 Uighur women of childbearing age not submitting to either mandatory sterilization or Intra Uterine Device implantations are deemed “untrustworthy” and banished to these camps。Within the cell， people young and old are required to sit absolutely ramrod straight for hours without moving a muscle。 If they dare to move， which inevitably and eventually they indeed do， they are subject to severe beatings。 As Baimurat， a former ‘camp enforcement’ personnel now taking refuge in North America recalls in an interview given to Byler， “They sat between these beds on plastic stools， reciting the rules。 You had to recite， whether you knew Chinese or not。 And because the people had to sit there for such long hours， there were many people whose intestines ‘fell down’。” Byler paraphrases a moving quote by the Auschwitz concentration camp survivor and best selling author Primo Levi， “some of them beat us from pure bestiality and violence， but others beat is when we are under a load almost lovingly， accompanying the blows with exhortations， as cart drivers do with willing horses。”The Chinese also follow a dastardly practice of ‘family segregation’。 Children are separated from their parents and are admitted to camps ridiculously named “Kindness Kindergartens。” As Byler writes close to 70 *percent of kids aged around five are held in these Kindergartens。 Their mothers are detained at times only because of the fact that they wear a veil and upon taken to the camps， get their heads shaved。 Co-opting and co-operating with the Chinese Governments are the who’s who of the global technology conglomerates。 The Intercept laid its hands on a 52 gigabyte dataset representing internal police documents from Xinjiang。 Constructed using a software peddled by Oracle， Ken Glueck， the Executive Vice-President of Oracle， exclaimed that almost every major technology behemoth in the United States found themselves a firm part of the Chinese surveillance machinery。 The list included IBM， Amazon and Google。 The entire surveillance mechanism is a well-oiled machine lubricated by the sustained contributions of high end technology companies that are beholden to both the diktats and largesse of the Communist Party。 Face recognition software and voice recognition software comprise the touchstone behind the success， or failure of any expansive and intrusive surveillance system。 Beijing had both the components covered in the form of two high flying companies。 Hikvision， a camera manufacturing giant in every sense， took care of the facial recognition software。 Hikvision in fact is the world’s biggest manufacturer of surveillance cameras and the entity liberally exports its surveillance devices to likeminded regimes。 iFlyTek， supplied twenty five voiceprint systems in the province of Kashgar to capture the unique signatures of a person’s voice in order to help identify and track people。 Another high flying technology company with their hands deep in the surveillance technology pie is Megvii。 Pioneers of the ‘Face++’ algorithm。 Using incredulously complex deep learning systems， Face ++ represented the intrusive and oppressive tool that found itself embedded in every smart phone held by a Uighur， Kazhak and Hui。 However in October 2019， just when Megvii was preparing itself for a listing， the United States blacklisted Megvii along with Yitu， Sensetime， Hikvision and Dahua。 The Public Relations machinery at Megvii worked overtime in a damage mitigation exercise。 Hiring a public relations firm named Brunswick Group， the company tried to downplay its involvement in the activities at Xinjiang。 In fact Byler himself wrote an indicting piece against the company for the Centre for Global Policy。 Megvii immediately responded through Brunswick Director Matt Miller and a Hong Kong based partner at Brunswick， Ginny Wilderming。 Megvii contended that they made meagre revenues of less than US$2 million in Xinjiang （a sum that represented < 1% of the total entity’s turnover）。 The company also denied any ethnic group centred ‘solutions。’ Byler has the last word in his poignant and conscience inducing book。 He brings to the attention of his readers， historian Jason Moore’s immortal turn-of-phrase: “behind Manchester stands Mississippi。” As Nancy Fraser， thet Henry and Louise A Loeb Professor of Philosophy and Politics at the New School for Social Research explains， this turn of phrase means that “the highly profitable textile industry of Manchester that Engels wrote about would not have been profitable without the cheap cotton supplied through enslaved labour from the Americas。 I’m tempted to add a third M for Mumbai by the way， to signal the important role played in Manchester’s rise by the calculated destruction by the British of Indian textile manufacturing。 Here is a case where expropriation is a condition for the possibility of profitable exploitation。 Capitalism plays a double game with people， assigning some to “mere” exploitation while condemning others to brutal expropriation， a distinction that has been associated historically with empire and race。” In a similar vein， behind Seattle lies the Xinjiang and its ostracized， oppressed and subjugated populace。 （In The Camps" is published by Columbia Global Reports and will be published on the 12th of October 2021） 。。。more
Twishaa
，
ARC from NetGalley:In The Camps is a chilling account of ethnic cleansing going on in China today。 Through his interviews with ex-detainees， the author provides a glimpse of the systematic dehumanization propaganda currently in place in the fastest-growing country in the world。 These ‘reeducation’ camps are gruesome and totalitarian。 Designed to strip away every ounce of dignity， these camps single out the Uyghurs and the Kazhak population in Xinjiang。In the past， China has been criticized for i ARC from NetGalley:In The Camps is a chilling account of ethnic cleansing going on in China today。 Through his interviews with ex-detainees， the author provides a glimpse of the systematic dehumanization propaganda currently in place in the fastest-growing country in the world。 These ‘reeducation’ camps are gruesome and totalitarian。 Designed to strip away every ounce of dignity， these camps single out the Uyghurs and the Kazhak population in Xinjiang。In the past， China has been criticized for its actions towards the Muslim population。 There have been reports， video clips， and horrifying accounts of the camps that manage to slip out of the stringent censorship method the country employs。 The book brings it all together and also shares how unknowingly we are part of this inhumane system。 Well-known technology giants have specifically created software that detects facial features to differentiate between Han （China's ethnic majority） and other minority groups。 The author gives a lot of information to set the background of how these camps came to be and the role these tech giants continue to play。I picked this book because I was intrigued by the description。 While it seems that the book could do with another round of editing， I would highly recommend the book to every non-fiction reader。 The kind of research that has gone behind in putting this novel together is commendable。 We shudder when we speak about the Holocaust that happened 75 years ago。 What is happening today in China， is no less than the camps under Hitler's rule。 Thank you Darren Byler for putting this together！ 。。。more
Kelsie
，