China slams Pope Francis over remark on Uighur minority in book

[ripcord]

Source: Aljazeera

China has criticised Pope Francis over a passage in his new book in which he mentions the suffering of China’s Uighur Muslim minority group, saying his remarks have “no factual basis at all”.

“People of all ethnic groups enjoy the full rights of survival, development, and freedom of religious belief,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

“I think often of persecuted peoples: the Rohingya, the poor Uighurs, the Yazidi – what ISIS (ISIL) did to them was truly cruel – or Christians in Egypt and Pakistan killed by bombs that went off while they prayed in church,” Francis writes in his book.

China and the Vatican have had no formal relations since the Communist Party cut ties and arrested Catholic clerics soon after seizing power in 1949.

Read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/24/china-criticises-pope-francis-over-remark-on-uighur-minority

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Does anyone actually believe anything China says? It is going to be interesting to see how Biden deals with China on human rights, Taiwan and the South China Sea.

[Cicada]

1. Only an international coalition can force China to change

The civilized world must combine to sanction China for their gross human rights violations. This kind of international coalition is precisely what Biden is well situated to achieve. And precisely what Trump could never achieve. We must make it in China’s best interests to become civilized.

[ripcord]

2. Human rights change won't happen in China

Communist governments don't respect human rights so nothing will change under the current system.