China’s foreign minister says allegations his country is carrying out genocide against Muslim ethnic Uighurs are “ridiculously absurd” and “a complete lie”.
Wang Yi made the comments during his annual news conference on Sunday.
A number of nations, including the US, have used the term to describe Chinese treatment of Uighur people.
It comes amid growing evidence of abuses at “re-education camps” for Uighurs in Xinjiang province.
China has been accused of carrying out forced sterilization on Uighur women and separating children from their families.
BBC investigations suggest that Uighurs are being used as forced labor and have revealed allegations of systematic rape and torture. China has banned BBC World News television over the corporation’s coverage of the Uighur issue and coronavirus.
