Palestinian leader Abbas ends China trip after backing Beijing’s crackdown on Muslim minorities

BEIJING (AP) — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has wrapped up a trip to China, after seeking economic aid and voicing support for Beijing’s repressive policies toward its Muslim minorities. During his four-day visit, Abbas met with Chinese President and head of the ruling Communist Party Xi Jinping. The sides then issued a joint statement endorsing Beijing’s contention that its policies in Xinjiang were aimed at “excising extremism and opposing terrorism and separatism” and were not an issue of human rights. That echoes Chinese propaganda surrounding the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities in prison-like detention centers on little or no legal basis for having a relative studying abroad or downloading the Koran onto their phones.