CHINA-RELIGION: XINJIANG
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China's State Council issued a White Paper on June 3, 2016, that said religious freedom in China's Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region was unparalleled. It disclosed that there are now 24,000 mosques, 59 Buddhist temples and 277 Christian churches in the region. Separately, RFA's Uyghur Service reported on May 31, 2016, that more than 70 Uyghurs held in a Thai detention facility have gone on a hunger strike. In a hand-written letter they have said they would rather die in Thailand than go back to China. “If we were returned back to China, we will face physical and emotional torture, and be killed or sentenced to stay in prison for life,” wrote the group calling itself For Freedom. The Uyghurs demanded that they be allowed to proceed to Turkey.
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