China rejects UN report on Uighur rights abuses in Xinjiang

Security personnel patrol near the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in western China’s Xinjiang region (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

China has denounced a UN report that says the government’s arbitrary detention of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity.

Human rights groups and the Japanese government welcomed the delayed report, which had become caught up in a tug-of-war between China and others, who were critical of the hold-up and lobbying for its release.