China rejects UN report on Uyghur rights abuses in Xinjiang

Armed civilians patrol the area outside the Hotan Bazaar where a screen shows Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hotan in western China's Xinjiang region, Nov. 3, 2017. [AP]

China has denounced a long-delayed UN report that was released over its protest and that says the government's arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity.

Human rights groups and the Japanese government welcomed the report, which had become caught up in a tug-of-war between China and others, who were critical of the delay and lobbying for its release.