Born into a poor rural Han Chinese family in central Henan Province in 1986, Mr. Zhang moved to Xinjiang in 2006 to attend college and later taught mathematics at a rural primary school. Seeking better economic prospects, he left teaching in 2014 to work as a guard at a detention center in Hotan, a region where Uyghurs make up around 90 percent of the population. His monthly salary rose from approximately $400 to $650. During this time, Mr. Zhang monitored surveillance footage, distributed food and medicine, and collected information from detainees, predominantly Uyghurs. He witnessed instances of detainees being beaten or sleep-deprived but initially accepted government narratives labeling the detainees as terrorists or separatists.

In late 2016, Mr. Zhang passed the civil service exam and joined the police force as Beijing intensified its mass detention campaign under Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang. Chen’s directives called for a “smashing, obliterating offensive” against individuals displaying signs of religious radicalism or antigovernment attitudes, including behaviors such as wearing long beards, praying, or studying Arabic. Mr. Zhang participated in nighttime raids to confiscate religious materials and often led forced searches of Uyghur homes. He also escorted detainees across the vast region, sometimes traveling in convoys of hundreds or thousands of individuals who were handcuffed, hooded, and subjected to degrading conditions during transport.

By 2018, Mr. Zhang was stationed at a police station, where he was responsible for processing detainees, searching them, and deciding their placement. In 2021, he was assigned to supervise Uyghur laborers sent to pick cotton for Han farmers, tasked with preventing escapes or religious practice among workers who labored for long hours under close watch. Despite official denials by Chinese authorities of accusations of forced labor and detention abuses, Mr. Zhang admitted to hearing international criticism but initially gave credence to government statements dismissing these claims.

Over several years, Mr. Zhang experienced harsh working conditions and punitive treatment within the police hierarchy. He endured extended shifts in difficult environments, separation from his family, and pressure to meet quotas for reporting behavior that could justify further detentions. His job required investigating routine activities viewed as suspicious, such as exercising or changes in household electricity use, and involved close surveillance with the assistance of Uyghur aides.

By late 2023, having grown increasingly conflicted, Mr. Zhang left his post and relocated to Guangzhou to study English. Using a virtual private network to bypass internet restrictions, he researched information about Xinjiang and Chen Quanguo, discovering accounts of the region’s facilities described as concentration camps. This contrast between his lived experience and emerging international reports caused significant personal turmoil.

In early 2024, Mr. Zhang formally resigned from the police force. In April 2025, he was baptized as a Catholic in Guangzhou. Shortly thereafter, while visiting Europe on a tour with his son, he fled the group and sought asylum in Germany. Mr. Zhang has since cooperated with human rights organizations and academics to provide detailed testimony about the operations of Xinjiang’s detention centers and surveillance mechanisms.

Scholars and activists have noted that Mr. Zhang’s account offers valuable insight into the daily implementation of policies targeting Uyghurs, reflecting a degree of routinization of repression beyond the peak of the mass internment campaign. While Mr. Zhang denies directly participating in torture or abuse, he acknowledges a role in the broader system of control. Observers caution that his partial disclosures may omit some of the harshest abuses, but emphasize the significance of his testimony as a rare perspective from within the security apparatus.

Mr. Zhang claims his own hardships working under the system—punitive work conditions, social isolation, and psychological strain—were significant. However, human rights advocates emphasize that Han Chinese police officers were not subjected to the arbitrary detention, forced labor, or persecution faced by Uyghurs. They also note that Mr. Zhang’s growing reluctance to engage in punitive surveillance reflects a complex struggle within a system that offers material rewards alongside coercive pressure.

His current efforts to speak publicly about Xinjiang represent a break with official narratives and a personal confrontation with responsibility. Mr. Zhang has stated that silence over abuses perpetuates injustice, asserting that those aware of wrongdoing bear a moral obligation to come forward.