Woman says China targets Muslim population for forced family planning

Published: 2006-04-20

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Chinese authorities are targeting an autonomous Muslim population for forced family planning, said a woman once held as a Chinese political prisoner. During a wide-ranging congressional hearing that spotlighted China's often-criticized human rights record, Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., also heard testimony about violations of religious freedom. Smith, the only congressman present, chairs the House subcommittee that oversees global human rights. The April 19 hearings were conducted the day before U.S. President George W. Bush met with Chinese President Hu Jintao. Rebiya Kadeer, president of the International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation and a former political prisoner, testified through an English translator that in February a senior government official targeted the predominantly Muslim Uighur people, who live in the rural area of Xinjiang, an autonomous region between Tibet and Kazakhstan, for family planning.

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