But foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing Friday that giving the award to Tohti was “problematic.”“I hope that Europe can respect China’s internal affairs and judicial sovereignty, and avoid celebrating a terrorist,” she said. The outspoken Tohti was convicted for “separatism” in a trial that provoked outcry from foreign governments and human rights organisations. China initially denied the existence of the camps, but now says they are “vocational training schools” necessary to combat terrorism. Before his arrest in January 2014, Tohti founded and ran the UighurOnline website, which wrote in Uighur and Chinese about social issues. Washington this month announced the blacklisting of 28 Chinese entities it says are involved in rights violations in Xinjiang, which China rejected as “groundless.”--AFP

Source: New Strait Times October 25, 2019 09:56 UTC