Mike Pompeo reacts to China embassy's Xinjiang 'emancipation' tweet after massive flak

Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State reacted to Chinese Embassy tweet about Uighur women being "emancipated" from extremism and were no longer "baby-making machines", stating that forced abortions and sterilisations do not emancipate them.

The Chinese embassy in the US shared a report by one of the China Daily (state media outlet) on January 7 that reads: "Study shows that in the process of eradicating extremism, the minds of Uyghur women in Xinjiang were emancipated and gender equality and reproductive health were promoted, making them no longer baby-making machines. They are more confident and independent." 

However, the post was later removed from Twitter as it showed the Chinese government's oppressive campaign against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

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According to another press release from the embassy, the study and press released from the Chinese government attributed the decrease in population growth to family planning programs and increased education, which religious extremism "incited people to resist". In the largest mass incarceration of an ethnic minority population in the world today, more than one million people, are or have been, detained in what is being called 'political re-education' centres, stated the report.

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China has been globally criticised for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

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China’s crackdown on Uyghurs 

Experts believe that the Uyghurs women in Xinjiang are forced to undergo sterilisation. China's Xinjiang is home to around 10 million Uyghurs. The Turkic Muslims, which consist of 45% of Xinjiang's population, have long accused China's authorities of cultural, religious, and economic discrimination. According to reports, about 7% of the Muslim population in Xinjiang has been imprisoned in an expanding network of "political re-education" (detention) camps. Classified documents known as the China Cables revealed how the state government uses technology to control Uyghur Muslims worldwide.

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(With ANI Inputs)