China Calls Pope’s Comments on Uighurs ‘Totally Groundless’
Pope Francis speaks at the Vatican on Nov. 8.
Photographer: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images
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China said comments made by Pope Francis calling ethnic Muslim Uighurs “persecuted” were baseless, amid heightened international scrutiny over its treatment of minority groups.
“Pope Francis’s remarks on Uighurs are totally groundless,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.