WASHINGTON — The United States said on Thursday that it was "deeply concerned" about reports China has detained three children of a leading activist for the Muslim Uighur minority and urged the Chinese government to free them if they are being held.
"We are deeply concerned by reports that three of Rebiya Kadeer's adult children were detained and one or more may have been beaten," the State Department said in response to a question at its daily news briefing.
"We have raised our concerns with high level Chinese government officials and have strongly urged them to investigate these reports and to release Ms. Kadeer's children, if they are under any form of detention," it said.
The Uighur Human Rights Project said on Tuesday that two sons and a daughter of Kadeer, president of the Uighur American Association, were picked up by police on Monday, the eve of a congressional delegation visit to Xinjiang.
The group said Kadeer's children were not allowed contact with family members or lawyers.
The Uighur Human Rights Project, which did not identify the U.S. lawmakers on the trip, said it was possible the three would be released once the congressional tour had ended.
Kadeer, a prominent Uighur businesswoman, was exiled to the United States when she was freed in March 2005 after serving seven years in jail on charges of providing state secrets to foreigners.
Uighur activists, who Beijing says are terrorists trying to split China, have been struggling for decades for self-determination in remote Xinjiang.
Human rights groups say China has used its support for the U.S.-led war on terror to justify a wider crackdown on Uighurs, including arbitrary arrests, closed trials and use of the death penalty.
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