UrumqiShanghai Cooperation Organisation officials met behind closed doors on 14 September.
Global Voices reports China is recasting the Uyghur region from energy supplier to AI computing source.
Beijing calls the region a national energy and resource strategic security base, and Karamay hosts a cloud computing industrial park.
The forum’s public language left out the region’s history of mass surveillance, Global Voices notes.
Global Voices says Chinese officials want to extend computing capacity, data systems and standards from Urumqi into Central Asia.
How each outlet framed it
- Global Voices leans critical
- maps Xinjiang as tech/AI strategic base for Belt & Road expansion into Central Asia with China's standards
Sources: Global Voices