New York Times Rejects Rubio’s Accusation Outlet Has Concealed Damning Documents About China: ‘Simply Wrong On the Facts’

The New York Times has rejected Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) accusation that the publication has been withholding damning documents regarding China, saying that he’s “simply wrong on the facts.”

In 2019, the outlet published a comprehensive report based on 403 pages it obtained of leaked documents related to the Communist regime’s genocide of Uygur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

In a Nov. 30 letter, Rubio wrote to Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger, accusing the paper of having “intentionally withheld documents that directly linked top Chinese Communist Party officials, including General Secretary Xi Jinping, to the ongoing genocide of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.”

Rubio also wrote:

More than 100 years ago, the New York Times promised, “to give the news impartially, without fear or favor, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved.” The paper has failed that test by covering up Xi’s direct involvement in the genocide.

I am under no illusion that you will demand an investigation into your paper and hold accountable those that carried water for Xi, but America and those Uyghurs unjustly suffering in prison and slave labor camps in Xinjiang deserve answers.

“Senator Marco Rubio is simply wrong on the facts,” wrote Michael Slackman, Assistant Managing Editor for International at the Times, in a press release published on Wednesday. Slackman listed the following items in the Times‘ defense:

— The Times published a comprehensive article based on the documents, which revealed and analyzed the secret speeches by China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, and their key role in shaping the crackdown.

— The report specifically connects the crackdown, including the internment of more than one million ethnic Uyghurs, Kazakhs and others, to Mr. Xi, who called for using the “organs of dictatorship” and showing “absolutely no mercy.”

— It showed how a top official in Xinjiang used Mr. Xi’s directives to justify the campaign and exhort authorities to “round up everyone who should be rounded up.”

— The Times created replicas of several pages of the documents for illustrative purposes and to highlight key passages. We published the full text of one document, in both English and Chinese.

— The Times chose not to publish the documents in their entirety over concerns that forensic analysis might allow the Chinese authorities to identify the source and put the person at risk.

— Since the publication of the report, The Times has continued to aggressively cover China’s repressive actions and policies, including the forced sterilization of Uyghur women, the labor programs to entrench control, the extensive propaganda campaign to deflect international attention, and the use of American technology by police in Xinjiang.

Rubio’s office did not respond to a request for comment.