International media outlets face huge obstacles to working in the region. Information is strictly controlled by the State and so accurate statistics or reports are hard to come by. Chinese authorities are willing to issue incorrect or false information in order to block issues pertaining to East Turkestan from becoming known on an international scale as made evident in a secret document of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. The document, entitled “Defending the Stability of Xinjiang, adopted on March 19, 1999, briefly states that, “…through disinformation, prevent by all means, the separatist forces from making the so-called East Turkestan problem international”.