A tweet from the Chinese embassy in Washington defending its policy on women in Xinjiang has been criticized

China’s re-education camps in Xinjiang have helped liberate the minds of imprisoned women, the Chinese embassy in Washington said Thursday, defending authorities’ treatment of women from Uighurs and other Muslim minorities there.

The Chinese government has strongly denied allegations that it is carrying out mass forced sterilizations of Uighur and other Muslim minority women.

“Research shows that in the process of eliminating extremism, the minds of Xinjiang Uygur women have been liberated, gender equality and reproductive health have been promoted, they are no longer reproductive machines, and they are more confident and independent,” the Chinese Embassy in the United States tweeted.

Because of the Chinese government’s long history of oppression of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, the post sparked a huge backlash, with many netizens demanding Twitter remove it.

“They have been trying to escape the charge of genocide,” said Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow at the US-based rights group, the Victims of Communism Foundation. Mr. Zheng’s research, published last June, provides ample evidence that Xinjiang authorities are carrying out mass forced sterilizations.

Zheng’s research shows that Xinjiang’s re-education camps are used as a form of threat and punishment, with authorities detaining women who refuse to undergo pregnancy tests or to use IUD.

In an interview with ABC News, Mr. Zheng said his initial research suggested that the authorities’ actions would significantly curb the population growth rate in Uighur areas. But he was shocked when further research revealed that the plan was to reduce local women’s natural fertility and population growth to almost zero by 2020.

The birth rate in Xinjiang declined from 1.6 percent in 2017 to 1 percent in 2018, and the natural population growth rate dropped from 1.1 percent to 0.6 percent, the Chinese government report said. This statement confirms Zheng’s research.

But a report released by the Chinese Embassy in the United States disputes this, saying that the Uighur population grew by more than 25 percent from 10.2 million in 2010 to 12.7 million in 2018. The Han population in this region grew by only 2%, to 9m.

The Chinese government and the People’s Daily have directly named Zheng and his report, noting that the decline in the local population is largely the result of China’s crackdown on religious extremism and a reduction in terrorist activities.