‘Muslim population’s rights in China fully protected’

BEIJING: China will continue to uphold the religious rights of its 20 million Muslim population, guaranteeing them their basic human-rights.

This was stated by a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lu Kang at a regular news briefing. Like other countries, they manage religious affairs in accordance with the law, resolutely oppose and combat religious extremism, and at the same time guarantee the normal religious needs of religious believers and respect the customs of religious believers, he added.

China, he further said has more than 20 million Muslims and more than 35,000 mosques. The majority of religious believers can freely engage in religious activities in accordance with the law.” He hoped that the relevant media should not be keen on some untrue words, let alone concoct false news, but should abide by the journalistic professional ethics.

To a question about the “re-education camp” in Xinjiang and having any of its link to the demolitions of Muslim mosques across China, the spokesperson said, they have said many times that the vocational skills education and training institutions established in Xinjiang have a very clear purpose.

Like other countries in the world, they are taking preventive measures based on the need to fight terrorism and de-extremism. Such measures may be different in different countries, but the objectives are the same. The spokesperson rejected perception of existing anti-Islamism in China, stating there is no such situation. China implements the policy of freedom of religious belief. Meanwhile, according to an official report, Xinjiang has shown remarkable progress in its socio-economic development. In the first month of this year, Xinjiang's total foreign trade stood at 13.94 billion yuan (about 2 billion US dollars), up 11.7 percent year on year, according to Urumqi Customs.