China says people held in Xinjiang camps have 'graduated', condemns U.S.
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[December 09, 2019]
By Cate Cadell
BEIJING (Reuters) - People held in camps in
China's Xinjiang region have now "graduated" and new trainees will have
the freedom to come and go, the regional governor said on Monday.
Governor Shohrat Zakir also hit out at Western criticism of the camps
and said the United States had launched a smear campaign against
Xinjiang.
The United Nations and human rights groups estimate that between 1
million and 2 million people, mostly ethnic Uighur Muslims, have been
detained in harsh conditions as part of what Beijing calls an
anti-terrorism campaign.
China has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of Uighurs and says the
camps provide vocational training. It describes the detainees as
students.
"At present the trainees who have participated...have all graduated,"
Zakir told a news conference in Beijing. "With the help of the
government, stable employment has been achieved and their quality of
life has been improved."
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Xinjiang will continue with training based on "independent will" and
"the freedom to come and go", he said.
China has not provided any official figures on how many people have been
held in the camps but Zakhir said foreign estimates were "pure
fabrication". He gave no details.
He also called a measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives
that condemned China's treatment of the Uighur minority a severe
violation of international law and a gross interference in China's
internal affairs.
"The U.S. is getting restless and has launched a smear campaign against
Xinjiang," Zakir said. "But no force can stop Xinjiang's progress toward
stability and development."
Claims about the camps are hard to verify as China only allows periodic
supervised visits and gives little information on their operations.
In July, a Xinjiang official said most people had returned to society
from the camps. Asked on Monday how many people had completed the
training, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she
could not give an exact number.
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![](../images/120919pics/news_q33.jpg)
An image of what has been described as scenes of past violence is
displayed in excerpts from a documentary "Fighting Terrorism in
Xinjiang" at a news conference in Beijing, China December 9, 2019.
REUTERS/Jason Lee
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"Because the number of people participating in these training
centers is dynamic, there's coming and going, so it's very difficult
to give an exact number," Hua told reporters at a separate briefing.
Human rights groups and former detainees have said conditions in the
camps are poor, with inmates subject to psychological and physical
abuse.
At Zakir's news conference, images of past violence were displayed
in excerpts from an English-language documentary, "Fighting
Terrorism in Xinjiang" aired on state broadcaster CGTN last week.
Hua expressed disappointment at the lack of foreign media coverage
of the documentary despite the intense concern over the Xinjiang
issue.
She said there had been no terrorist attack in Xinjiang in the past
three years due to the success of the camps.
The U.S. Uighur Act passed by the House of Representatives last week
requires the U.S. president to condemn abuses against Muslims and
calls for the closure of the camps in Xinjiang.
It also calls on President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on a
member of China's powerful politburo, Xinjiang Communist Party
Secretary Chen Quanguo.
The issue, along with Washington's support for pro-democracy
protesters in Hong Kong, complicates prospects for a near-term deal
to end a 17-month long trade war between China and the United
States.
(Reporting by Cate Cadell; Additional reporting by Huizhong Wu in
Beijing; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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