‘Education centers, not internment camps’

BEIJING: China issued Tuesday an ardent defense of its alleged mass internment of minorities a global outcry, with a regional - ties are preventing terrorism centers.

- ter criticism with a series of op- eds and interviews and a roll out of new regulations that retroactively codify the use of the system of extra

Up to one million ethnic Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic minorities are believed to be held in such centers, according to estimates cited by a United Nations panel.

Former inmates have said they found themselves incarcerated for transgressions such as wearing long beards and face veils or sharing Islamic holiday greetings on social media, a process that echoes the decades of brutal thought reform under Mao Zedong.

The program has come under international community, with particularly heavy censure from the United States and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Chinese authorities initially denied the existence of the facilities. But they have changed their tune as satellite imagery and documents issued by their own government have made it - tain that position.

In a rare interview with Chi - vice published Tuesday, the - ment, Shohrat Zakir, defended the use of the centers, saying that the region was now “safe

many people were being held in the centers.

Zakir said the facilities were and Mandarin abilities among minorities with “a limited command of the country’s common language and a limited sense

limited vocational skills. This has led to a low material-basis for residents to live and work there, making them vulnerable to the instigation and coercion he said.

He said that the programs were limited in duration, with the centers that laid out a clear plan of study and included a stipend.

Asked about the future of the programs, Zakir said he were “expected to complete their courses successfully by