China rejects criticism of its treatment of Uighur refugees

Wed, 23 Dec 2009

Beijing - China's government on Wednesday rejected criticism of the deportation of 20 Uighur refugees from Cambodia to China as interference into its internal affairs. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Jian Yu was quoted as saying by state-run media that the deportation was not connected to Beijing's financial support for the impoverished South-East Asian nation.

The Uighurs, members of a Muslim ethnic minority group in China, were suspected of having committed crimes and had illegally crossed the border between China and Cambodia, she said.

"Any country facing such circumstances is entitled to make its own decision in accordance with its domestic laws," Jiang said.

"How to handle with these people is the internal affair of China, and the outside world shall not make irresponsible remarks," Jiang said.

Human rights organizations and the US State Department expressed "deep concern" over the welfare of the deported Uighurs this week.

The 20 Uighurs fled the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang this summer, fearing persecution after bloody ethnic unrest there and applied for asylum in Cambodia with the support of the United Nations refugee agency.

The office of UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak sharply criticized Cambodia for giving in to Chinese pressure before the status of the asylum seekers could be clarified.

Cambodia deported the Uighurs Saturday, one day ahead of the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to Phnom Penh.

During his visit, the two states signed 14 agreements, including credits from China worth 1.2 billion dollars.

China's approximately 10 million Uighurs have long complained of suppression by Beijing both politically and culturally while the government is afraid of separatist tendencies in the Xinjiang region.

Tensions between Uighurs and Han Chinese led to bloody clashes in July and September, in which, according to government figures, about 200 people lost their lives.