China refutes re-education through labor camps restored in Xinjiang

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"Re-education through labor camps was abolished in China. The vocational education program in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the so-called forced labor are completely different in nature," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular conference Thursday.

She made the remarks to refute the fake news reported by the Washington Post that the so-called forced labor was restored in Xinjiang's vocational education program.

"As Shohrat Zakir told reporters, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the vocational education program regards learning skills as an important way to achieve employment, and has set up various skills training courses according to local social needs," she said.

At the same time, the local government also actively contacted relevant enterprises to link the course study with the practical operation closely, and the students can receive labor compensation according to specific modes, she added.

Hua stressed that there are 22 deep poverty-stricken counties and 1.23 million in-depth poverty-stricken populations in southern Xinjiang at present, adding that trainees of the training center can basically find jobs through vocational skills training on the basis of voluntary choice."

"One person is employed and the whole family can get out of poverty," she noted.