China Denies Separation of Kids from Muslim Parents
"There's no separation of children from their parents. Not at all," Liu Xiaoming said on Sunday.
He said parents who spoke to the BBC about their missing children were "anti-government people".
"If you have people who have lost their children, give me names and we'll try to locate them", he added.
The report said that hundreds of children from the Uighur minority ethnic group had had both parents detained, either in camps or in prison.
At the same time, China has launched a large-scale campaign to build boarding schools for Uighur children.
Critics say it is an effort to isolate children from their Muslim communities.
Chinese authorities claim the Uighurs are being educated in "vocational training centers" designed to combat extremism.
But evidence suggests that many are being detained for simply expressing their faith - praying or wearing a veil - or for having overseas connections to places like Turkey.
