LONDON (Reuters) - China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom on Monday dismissed reporting by Western media on the Chinese government’s policies in Xinjiang as “pure fabrication” and “fake news”.

United Nations experts and activists say at least 1 million ethnic Uighurs and members of other largely Muslim minority groups have been detained in camps in the western Xinjiang region in a crackdown that has drawn condemnation from the United States and other countries.

Beijing denies any mistreatment of the Uighurs or others in Xinjiang and says it is providing vocational training to help stamp out Islamic extremism and separatism and teach new skills.

Asked in London about a New York Times article based on leaked Chinese government documents the newspaper said revealed details of the clampdown in Xinjiang, the diplomat said: “I can categorically deny there is such a document. It is sheer, pure fabrication.”