East Turkistan, what Beijing calls “Xinjiang (New Territory),” has seen Beijing appoint Wang Gang as secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC) in the occupied territory, a party post that coordinates policing, prosecution, courts, prisons, and the wider intelligence-security system. The appointment was confirmed on February 9, 2026, when Wang appeared at an official meeting in the new capacity, according to Chinese state-affiliated media Caixin Global.
Wang replaces Chen Mingguo, who was sanctioned by the United States in March 2021 under Global Magnitsky authorities in connection with what Washington described as serious human rights abuses.
The personnel move comes amid Xi Jinping’s long-running drive to enforce political discipline and loyalty across China’s party-state, including through high-profile investigations and reshuffles affecting senior security-linked institutions and military leadership, Reuters has reported.
Appointment places policing, intelligence, and courts under a single party portfolio
Caixin Global described Wang, 52, as a veteran administrator whose career has been built inside Beijing’s governance apparatus in the occupied territory, including senior posts in Horgos, Karamay, and Aksu, before being appointed as the top security chief in Beijing’s colonial administration in East Turkistan.
The PLAC sits within the Communist Party structure and is designed to ensure China’s security and political-legal institutions implement party directives. In practice, it coordinates policing, prosecutors, courts, and detention systems, as well as security work with intelligence-linked priorities and political campaigns—making the PLAC secretary the most powerful party post shaping coercive Chinese governance in the occupied territory.
ETGE condemns appointment and urges targeted sanctions
In a February 16, 2026 statement, the East Turkistan Government in Exile (ETGE) condemned Wang’s ang’s appointment as further consolidation of Beijing’s political-legal and security structures and urged democratic governments to impose targeted sanctions, strengthen enforcement against goods produced through forced labour, and counter transnational repression targeting East Turkistani exile communities.
“Wang’s appointment underscores Beijing’s determination to further entrench and systematize its ongoing genocide and colonial occupation of East Turkistan.”
— Dr. Mamtimin Ala, President of the East Turkistan Government in Exile
ETGE said Wang’s appointment reflects continuity with Chen Mingguo’s tenure and described the PLAC as a central command structure for security and political control in the occupied territory.
UN experts warn of mass forced labour
The appointment comes amid renewed international scrutiny of China’s coercive labour systems in East Turkistan. On January 22, 2026, independent UN human rights experts warned that patterns of state-imposed forced labour affecting Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and other ethnic groups may be so coercive that they “may amount to forcible transfer and/or enslavement as a crime against humanity.”
Wang’s appointment to the PLAC role is likely to draw renewed attention from governments and institutions already using sanctions and other measures focused on senior party-state officials and entities linked to the security and labour-transfer apparatus operating in East Turkistan.
