US denounces China's "awful abuses" of Muslim Uighurs

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday denounced the "awful abuses" of Muslim Uighurs detained in Chinese reeducation camps.

In a speech on the state of religious freedom around the world, the US Secretary said that possibly millions of Uighurs are held against their will in the so-called re-education camps, where they're forced to endure severe political indoctrination and other awful abuses. 

He also expressed concern about the fate of



Christians in China, who he said had been targeted in a government crackdown.

Beijing has rejected UN estimates that more than a million members of Muslim minorities are being held in internment camps in China's western Xinjiang region.

Last month, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and members of the US Congress wrote a letter to Mr. Pompeo demanding sanctions on Chinese officials implicated in the internment of Uighurs.