Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry

Sayragul Sauytbay is a fugitive being pursued by Xinjiang public security department for illegally crossing borders and loan fraud, and she has never been in Xinjiang’s training centers, said a spokesperson from China’s Foreign Ministry, after the US State Department gave the ethnic Kazak woman from Xinjiang the “Women of Courage Award.”

Zhao Lijian, the spokesperson, said that Sayragul Sauytbay’s fabricated rumors to slander Xinjiang, escape legal punishment and beg for political asylum are nothing short of crooked and abominable logic.

Zhao’s remarks come as the US State Department gave Sairagul Sautbay the “Women of Courage Award” after she publicly slandered China's effort of fighting extremism in Xinjiang.

Awarding Sairagul Sautbay shows the US is encouraging her criminal activities. It is an affront to human rights, said Zhao, urging the US to cast aside ideological bias, cease interfering in China’s domestic affairs, and do something beneficial to bilateral relations. 

Xinjiang does not have so-called “reeducation camps,” and it has taught law and vocational skills to those who are corrupted by extremism in order to eradicate extremism and terrorism, said Zhao, noting that those measures have yielded sufficient gains, as the region hasn’t seen terrorist attack in three consecutive years. 

All members have graduated from the training centers by the end of last year, and are living peaceful lives after being employed under the help of the government. 

Global Times