China defends 'anti-extremism' measures in Xinjiang as scrutiny mounts

BEIJING: Vocational training is being used “to the greatest extent” in China’s far-western Xinjiang region to ensure militant activities are “eliminated before they occur,” a senior Communist Party official said.

The state media interview with Shohrat Zakir, the number two party official and most senior ethnic Uighur in Xinjiang, is China’s most detailed defense yet of its policies in the region, which is home to a large Muslim population.

Reports of mass detentions and strict surveillance of ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims have prompted the United States to consider sanctions against officials and companies linked to allegations of human rights abuses.

The measures had helped to prevent violent militant attacks in Xinjiang for the past 21 months, Zakir said in an interview published by the Xinhua news agency.

Trainees signed “education agreements” to receive “concentrated training” and undergo “live-in study,” Zakir said.

They received Chinese language lessons and lectures on the country’s constitution and laws, he said, without specifying how many people were receiving such training. Skills training included food processing, assembling electronic products, hairdressing, clothes making and e-commerce.

“Through vocational training, most trainees have been able to reflect on their mistakes and see clearly the essence and harm of terrorism and religious extremism,” Zakir was quoted as saying.

“They have also been able to better tell right from wrong and resist the infiltration of extremist thought,” he said.

China says Xinjiang faces a threat from Islamist militants and separatists. It rejects all accusations of mistreatment in an area where hundreds have been killed in unrest between Uighurs and members of the ethnic Han Chinese majority.