China a ‘glaring example’ of religious repression, US says
US Department of State slams China for committing ‘genocide’ against Uighurs in annual report on global religious freedom.
China provides a “glaring example” of how governments are cracking down on religious minorities, a US official has said, as the Department of State released its annual report on religious freedom around the world.
Rashad Hussain, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, said during a news conference on Thursday that “far too many governments remain undeterred of their repression of their citizens”.
“It comes as no surprise that the People’s Republic of China is a glaring example here,” he told reporters.
“The PRC government continue[s] to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uighurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.”
A day before US President Joe Biden took office, Washington announced it had determined Beijing was committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” against Uighurs in the western province of Xinjiang, where rights groups and witnesses have said more than one million people are being held in internment camps.
China initially denied the existence of any detention camps in Xinjiang, but in 2018, said it had set up “vocational training centers” necessary to curb what it said was terrorism, separatism and religious radicalism in the region.
The Chinese government has rejected abuse allegations, decrying “slanderous attacks” about conditions for Uighurs and other religious minorities in Xinjiang.
“China continues its genocide and repression of predominantly Muslim Uighurs and other religious minority groups,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday at the news conference unveiling the 2021 International Religious Freedom Report.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES