China’s detention camps are “training” centres that have made lives more “colourful” for Muslim minorities by saving them from extremist behaviour, a senior official said on Tuesday, in a robust defence of the policy amid growing international criticism.

Shohrat Zakir, governor of Xinjiang, a northwestern province home to Chinese Muslims, said in a rare interview with Chinese state media that the government offered “hands-on training” to teach Uighurs Mandarin, “the country’s common language, legal knowledge, vocational skills, along with de-extremisation education.”

The “free programmes” also provided nutritious meals, air-conditioned rooms, dance contests, and access to facilities including basketball courts, computer labs, and movie screening rooms, said Mr Zakir, stressing the detention centres were legal under Chinese law.

“Many trainees have said that they were previously affected by extremist thought and had never participated in such kinds of art and sports activities, and now they have realised that life can be so colourful,” he said.

Beijing has come under fire for its repression of Xinjiang’s Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking and primarily Muslim minority group. Authorities have justified the crackdown as a necessary part of counter-terrorism efforts.