China Summons US Embassy Official To Protest New Uyghur Rights Bill

China Summons US Embassy Official to Protest New Uyghur Rights Bill

A top Chinese diplomat made stern representations to a US embassy official in Beijing on Wednesday to protest against a new US bill on the human rights of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group living in Northwest China's Xinjiang province, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2019) A top Chinese diplomat made stern representations to a US embassy official in Beijing on Wednesday to protest against a new US bill on the human rights of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority group living in Northwest China's Xinjiang province, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"On December 4, 2019, China's Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang summoned Charge d'Affaires a.i. of the United States Embassy in China William Klein to lodge stern representations and strong protests against the US House of Representatives' passing of the 'Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2019,'" the statement said.

Qin demanded the United States to correct its mistakes and halt interference in China's domestic affairs over Xinjiang-related issues, the statement said.

China would make further responses according to the development of the situation, the statement added.

The new US bill, passed through the US House of Representatives on Tuesday, would direct various US government agencies to prepare reports on China's treatment of Uyghurs, who allegedly faced human rights abuses caused by the Chinese government.

In late August 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reported that large numbers of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities were being held in political "reeducation camps" in Xinjiang often for long periods, and without being charged or tried under the pretext of countering terrorism and religious extremism.

The Chinese foreign ministry has refuted these claims as unfounded and not reflective of reality. Chinese authorities argued that the vocational education and training centers were part of the nation's anti-extremism campaign to help Uyghurs learn the standard Mandarin language and obtain adequate professional skills.