China has continued to deflect rising international criticism over its policies in Xinjiang, particularly over alleged forced labour and the detention of more than 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and others
A Chinese official on Monday denied Beijing has imposed coercive birth control measures among Muslim minority women, following an outcry over a tweet by the Chinese Embassy in Washington claiming that government policies had freed women of the Uighur ethnic group from being 바카라baby-making machines.바카라
Xu Guixiang, a deputy spokesperson for the Xinjiang regional government, told reporters Monday that birth control decisions were made of the person's own free will and that 바카라no organisation or individual can interfere.바카라
바카라The growth rate of the Uighur population is not only higher than that of the whole Xinjiang population, but also higher than that of the minority population, and more significantly higher than that of the (Chinese majority) Han population," Xu said.
바카라As for the so-called forcing ethnic minority women in Xinjiang to wear IUDs, or undergo tubal ligations or abortions, it is even more malign.바카라
An Associated Press investigation in June found that the Chinese government was forcing draconian birth control measures on Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, including IUD fittings, contraceptives, and even abortions and sterilisations.
The measures are backed by the threat of detention, with parents with three or more children swept into camps and prisons if they're unable to pay massive fines.
As a result, the birth rate in Xinjiang's minority regions plummeted by over 60 per cent in just three years, even as Beijing eases birth restrictions on the Han population ahead of a looming demographic crisis.
Twitter took down the Chinese Embassy's January 7 tweet following protests by groups that accuse Beijing of seeking to eradicate Uighur culture.
Users complained the tweet was a violation of rules set by Twitter, which is blocked in China along with Facebook and other American social media platforms.
바카라China's fascist government is now openly admitting and celebrating its use of concentration camps, forced labour, forced sterilisations and abortions, and other forms of torture to eliminate an ethnic and religious minority," Nihad Awad, national executive director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in an emailed statement.
China has been waging a years-long campaign against what it calls terrorism and religious fanaticism in Xinjiang and the embassy's tweet referenced those polices, saying: 바카라Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uygur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines."
The tweet cited a study by Li Xiaoxia, a Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences researcher who has asserted that the birth control measures in Xinjiang are voluntary.
Li's papers in past years laid the theoretical foundations for justifying mass birth control measures. In one 2017 paper, Li said having many children was a sign of 바카라religious extremism and ethnic separatism.바카라
Li worried that predominantly minority districts were breeding grounds for terrorism, calling it 바카라a big political risk.바카라
Monday's news conference was the latest attempt by Beijing to deflect rising international criticism over its policies in Xinjiang, particularly over alleged forced labour and the detention of more than 1 million Uighurs, Kazakhs and others in prison-like centres for political indoctrination.
China says the centres are intended to combat extremism and teach job skills, but former residents and rights groups say they target Islam and minority languages and culture.
Elijan Anayat, another regional government spokesperson, said all those at the centres had 바카라graduated" as of October 2019, countering reports that China continues to expand the system.
바카라With the help of the government, they have achieved stable employment, improved the quality of life and lived a normal life,바카라 Anayat said. 바카라At present, there is no education and training centre in Xinjiang.바카라