Maldives: Protest outside Chinese embassy against Beijing's treatement of Muslims

A group of people demonstrated in front of the Chinese embassy in the Maldives on Friday to protest against Beijing's treatment of its religious minorities.

Holding posters that read: "Loan Sharks" and "China Out", the youths also raised their concerns about the Maldivian government's debt to China, local media reported.

Maldives Police Service had later cordoned off the road following reports of protests, the Times of Addu reported.

Today's protest against China comes days after President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said that he looks forward to reinvigorating Maldives-Sino relations following his phone call with President Xi on July 16 this year.

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Early this year, the US became the first country in the world to declare the Chinese actions in Xinjiang as "genocide.

Recently, US State Department released its 2021 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) placing China among the worst countries in human trafficking following its increasing repression of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

The report accused China of using surveillance technologies and criminal charges to abduct and detain more than one million Muslims, including Uyghurs, ethnic Hui, ethnic Kazakhs, and more, in up to 1,200 state-run internment camps.

The United States will continue to place human rights at the forefront of our China policy and will always support the voices of activists, survivors, and family members of victims who courageously speak out against these atrocities, said the spokesperson.

( With inputs from ANI )