China defends internment camps for Muslim minority

Chinese officials on Tuesday responded to criticism of the country’s mass internment of Muslims, saying the reeducation camps push people into the “modern, civilized” world. The statement came after reports that China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region has legalized what it called “vocational training centers” for Uighur Muslims to prevent the growth of religious extremism. Former prisoners and human rights advocates have long accused China of maintaining secret reeducation camps where they brainwash and torture Muslim detainees. They allege treatment includes pro-Communist indoctrination and being forced to criticize or renounce Islam. The Chinese government has previously denied the existence of such camps.

Tuesday’s report by the official Xinhua News Agency indicated the government hopes to assimilate the indigenous Central Asian ethnic minority into Han Chinese society through lessons on Mandarin, Chinese history, and laws. Xinjiang Gov. Shohrat Zakir said the camps provide athletic and cultural activities, cafeterias with free nutritious food, and modern dormitories, but former residents dispute that, saying they were kept in locked cells with dozens of people. Amnesty International called the report an insult to the detainees and the families of people gone missing in the crackdown. “No amount of spin can hide the fact the Chinese authorities are undertaking a campaign of systematic repression,” the group said.

China’s crackdown on the Uighurs began in 2016 with officials using surveillance and detention throughout the region.