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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe argument that 1 million are detained in re-education centers is completely untrue,\u201d Hu told the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the second day of its regular review of China\u2019s record.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn freedom of religious belief, Xinjiang guarantees citizens freedom of religious belief and protects normal religious activities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose deceived by religious extremism \u2026 shall be assisted by resettlement and re-education,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Gay McDougall, a panel member, said on Friday it had received many credible reports that 1 million ethnic Uighurs in China are held in what resembles a \u201cmassive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy, a sort of no rights zone\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo say that they don\u2019t violate rights of minorities does not prove anything. We have to more than a denial of allegations,\u201d she told the Chinese delegation on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI notice that you didn\u2019t quite deny that these re-education or indoctrination programs don\u2019t take place,\u201d she added, seeking clarification on how many people undergo re-education.<\/p>\n
Hu said China has clamped down on \u201cextremist and terrorist crimes\u201d in Xinjiang in accordance with the law, saying that there had been assassinations, explosions and poisonings there.<\/p>\n
But, he said, it did not target any particular ethnic minority or seek \u2018de-Islamisation\u201d of the region.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Monday, in the country\u2019s first response to the UN criticism, a state-run newspaper said that massively stepped-up security in Xinjiang has helped prevent \u201cgreat tragedy\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":103139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7863],"tags":[10084,41126,22158,41127],"class_list":["post-103138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-section","tag-china","tag-uighurs","tag-un","tag-xinjiang"],"yoast_head":"\n