China says pace of Xinjiang 'education' will slow, but defends camps

Residents at the Kashgar city vocational educational training centre attend a Chinese lesson during a government organised visit in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, January 4, 2019. PREUTERS/Ben Blanchard

URUMQI/KASHGAR/HOTAN, China (Reuters) - China will not back down on what it sees as a highly successful de-radicalisation programme in Xinjiang that has attracted global concern, but fewer people will be sent through, officials said last week in allowing rare media access there.

Beijing has faced an outcry from activists, scholars, foreign governments and U.N. rights experts over what they call mass detentions and strict surveillance of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority and other Muslim groups who call Xinjiang home.