China says most people in Xinjiang camps have 'returned to society'

[TomSea]

China says most people in Xinjiang camps have 'returned to society'
Michael Martina

BEIJING (Reuters) - Most people sent to mass detention centers in China’s Xinjiang region have “returned to society”, a senior official from the region said on Tuesday, but he declined to give an estimate of many have been held in recent years.

A perimeter fence is constructed around what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said there was no evidence to support the assertion made by Xinjiang’s vice chairman Alken Tuniaz and said Beijing should allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights unhindered access to assess the claim.

United Nations experts and activists say at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs, and members of other largely Muslim minority groups, have been detained in camps in the region of western China.

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-xinjiang-idUSKCN1UP15F

We can probably tell by satellite.

[PeteS in CA]

Some background ... Xinjiang is China's northwestern most province (using an incorrect term, for simplicity). This situation is an intersection of two demographic factors. Those sent to camps are Uighurs, who have avoided assimilating into Chinese culture and who are Muslims. It's not simply that these people in Xinjiang are Muslims, as there is a large, centuries old, very active, mosque in Xining, the capital of neighboring Qinghai Province. Muslims in Xining are of different people groups who have assimilated into Chinese culture (without ceasing to be Muslims).

My daughter is attending a university in Xining and is fluent in Mandarin. She is my source regarding how things are in Xining.

[PeteS in CA]

We can probably tell by satellite.

The Soviet military people used to joke that Americans knew how many personnel the Soviets had, using our satellites. The joke was that the Americans counted shoes in pictures of morning formation and divided by two.