Taipei: Describing China’s internment of an estimated 1 million Muslims as a “horrific situation”, Sam Brownback, US ambassador for international religious freedom, on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into the detentions and the release of those being held.
After initially denying the existence of the internment camps in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, China now says they are vocational training facilities.
Brownback, in a telephone news conference with journalists, described China’s explanations as “completely unsatisfactory answers.” He called on Beijing to end religious persecution in China while requesting a visit to the country’s mass internment camps in the western region of Xinjiang.
Reuters quoted him as saying, “The Trump administration is deeply concerned and considers this oppression a deliberate attempt by Beijing to redefine and control members of these Muslim minority groups’ identity, culture and faith.”
Taking to Twitter to slam China, Brownback tweeted, “The gates of #religiousfreedom will fly open in #China and the iron curtain of religious persecution will come down. The Chinese government is currently on the wrong side of history”
The gates of #religiousfreedom will fly open in #China and the iron curtain of religious persecution will come down. The Chinese government is currently on the wrong side of history,https://t.co/sU5t8vNX2z
— U.S. Ambassador at Large Rashad Hussain (@IRF_Ambassador) March 8, 2019
US has listed China among the worst violators of religious freedom.