The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday refuted a BBC report on alleged abuses of women's rights in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, saying that China is against any acts of interference in its internal issues using Xinjiang affairs.
The remarks by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin were in response to a BBC report that said there was "systematic rape" of women in "Xinjiang camps."
At a regular press conference, Wang said that there is no systematic rape or sexual abuse of women. Respecting and guaranteeing human rights are the basic principles stipulated by China's Constitution, as it is a country ruled by law.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, unprecedented achievements have been made in women's liberation and development in China, the spokesperson said. Women of all ethnic groups enjoy political rights, cultural and educational rights, labor and social security rights, marriage and family rights as well as other rights according to the law.
There are no so-called "re-education" camps in Xinjiang, Wang said, stressing that the vocational education and training centers in the region are part of its counter-terrorism and de-radicalization efforts. They are no different from the Desistance and Disengagement Programme (DDP) of the UK, or the de-radicalization centers in France.
The vocational education and training centers strictly abide by the Constitution and laws to protect the basic rights of trainees from violation, and forbid insulting or abusing trainees in any way, Wang said.
He said that there has been much false information on Xinjiang circulating recently. Some of the interviewees in previous reports turned out to be "actors" for and "tools" used by anti-China forces in order to attack China using Xinjiang affairs.
Wang said that China welcomes foreigners who hold the principle of objectivity to visit Xinjiang and learn about the actual situation in the region, but also strongly opposes any attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs as well as suggestions of any so-called investigation with presumption of guilt.
He added that in recent years, more than 1,200 diplomats, journalists and representatives of religious groups from more than 100 countries have visited Xinjiang.
For Xinjiang's social and economic development, Wang pointed out that the Chinese side has published eight Xinjiang-related white papers, and the government of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has held 25 press conferences.
