China lodges protest with US regarding bill to sanction Beijing over treatment of Uyghurs

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed Senate-approved legislation to hold China accountable for alleged human rights violations against the Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in the country.

"The bill passed by the US Congress groundlessly blames China for its policy toward Xinjiang and criticizes the situation with human rights in Xinjiang. This rudely denigrates China's counter terrorism measures and constitutes a serious interference in China's internal affairs ... China has condemned this and expressed a resolute protest," Zhao said at a briefing.

The bill now heads to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law. On May 14, the Senate passed the bill by unanimous consent.

The bill condemns human rights violations of ethnic Turkic Muslims in the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang and calls for an end to arbitrary detention and harassment of these communities inside - and outside - China.

China has been criticized for reportedly holding up to one million ethnic Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in "re-education camps" under the pretext of fighting terrorism and religious extremism as of last summer.

Beijing has denied the existence of "re-education camps" on numerous occasions, insisting that the country is fully complying with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.