China thanks Kazakhstan for support on Xinjiang de-radicalisation scheme

The Chinese government’s top diplomat has thanked Kazakhstan for its support for a controversial de-radicalisation programme in China’s far western region of Xinjiang, and said others should follow China’s example.  Critics say China is operating internment camps for Uighurs and other Muslim peoples who live in Xinjiang, although the government calls them vocational training centres and says it has a genuine need to prevent extremist thinking and violence. Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said after meeting Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov in Beijing that China’s de-radicalisation measures in Xinjiang had been very effective, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.