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She said the letter issued this week and reportedly spearheaded by Canada was based on hearsay, despite widely distributed reports from detainees, relatives and officials documenting the sweeping and seemingly arbitrary detentions.

Inmates and relatives say the camps impose military-style discipline and punishments and force detainees to renounce their religion and culture while swearing fealty to President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party.

Canada will continue to look for ways to advance and promote human rights in partnership with our likeminded allies

Asked about the letter, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had “highlighted the questions and concerns that we have” surrounding the issue in his bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore.

“Canada will continue to look for ways to advance and promote human rights in partnership with our likeminded allies everywhere around the world,” Trudeau said at a news conference Thursday.

The letter to the Chinese government has not been made public, but the Reuters news agency said it was signed by 15 Western ambassadors, including the Canadian, British, French, Swiss, European Union, German, and Australian envoys.

Hua’s comments came as a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is bringing a measure to urge President Donald Trump to help Chinese Muslims respond to the crackdown.

The legislation would urge Trump to condemn “gross violations” of human rights in Xinjiang, where the U.N. estimates that as many as 1 million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities are being held in arbitrary detention.