Officials deny students being held in Wuhan

Despite reports, they are all happy and in contact with their families, Xinjiang says

Officials in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region said none of the students from the region in Wuhan, epicenter of the novel coronavirus, has been detained or forbidden to make outside contact since the outbreak of the epidemic.

Some Western media reports claimed that 770 Xinjiang students studying in three high schools in Wuhan had been detained in schools and banned from contacting anyone outside the city since the city went into lockdown on Jan 23.

"Such smears are nothing but clumsy acts of overseas hostile forces that are taking advantage of COVID-19 to catch people's eye," Ilijan Anayt, spokesman for the Xinjiang government, said at a news briefing on Monday evening.

According to Ilijan, Wuhan has opened classes for 999 Xinjiang students at three middle schools. Due to the relatively short holiday break and the distance between Wuhan and Xinjiang, 955 students chose to stay at their schools during the Spring Festival.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, local authorities have been working together with the Xinjiang government to prevent the disease from spreading in schools and to ensure daily necessities. Students take online courses and contact their families almost every day, he said.

"Not a single Xinjiang student in the three schools has been infected with the new virus," he said, adding that the students are enjoying a happy campus life and it is not true that they are "being detained" or "being banned from having outside contact".

In response to a report on a Turkish website affiliated with the East Turkistan Education and Solidarity Association, which alleged that the Chinese government had transferred 50 Uygur students from Turpan in Xinjiang to the virus-hit city of Beihai in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Ilijan said the accusation is "groundless nonsense fabricated by overseas opposing forces harboring hostile intentions, and the outright lie is extremely ridiculous".

He also refuted a recent human rights report released by the United States government's Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which claims the detainees at Xinjiang's "mass internment camps" include foreign permanent residents, including Americans and Australians.

"I can tell you responsibly that no non-Chinese person has ever received vocational education and training in Xinjiang," Iljan said at the briefing.

Xinjiang has set up vocational education and training centers in accordance with the law to provide courses on the Mandarin language, laws, vocational skills and deradicalization programs for people influenced by religious extremism and terrorism, which were portrayed by some western scholars and media as "mass internment camps".

"China is a country under the rule of law, with a complete judicial process. Xinjiang's judicial authorities deal with all those who commit unlawful and criminal acts in strict accordance with the law based on the nature and circumstances of their acts," Ilijan said.

"The Xinjiang government legally protects foreigners' legitimate rights. As long as a foreigner has not violated Chinese law, he or she will not be subject to compulsory measures," he added.