GENEVA – China rejected on Monday allegations raised by a UN panel that 1 million Uighurs may be held in internment camps in the…
GENEVA – China rejected on Monday allegations raised by a UN panel that 1 million Uighurs may be held in internment camps in the restive Xinjiang region, but said that some people underwent re-education after being deceived by extremists. Hu Lianhe, deputy director general of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, said that authorities in the far western Xinjiang region protected the full rights of all citizens equally. China says that Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who plot attacks and stir up tensions between the mostly Muslim Uighur minority who call the region home and the ethnic Han Chinese majority. "The argument that 1 million are detained in re-education centers is completely untrue," Hu told the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the second day of its regular review of China's record. "On freedom of religious belief, Xinjiang guarantees citizens freedom of religious belief and protects normal religious activities," he said.
