Twitter removes Chinese embassy's post claiming Uighur women not forcefully sterilised

China's US embassy recently tweeted an article claiming that Uighur women are no longer "baby-making machines". However, the post has now been removed by the social media giant.

The Chinese embassy in the US had the post linked to an article that openly denied all accusations of forced sterilisation in Xinjiang. Twitter claimed the post "violated the Twitter rules".

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Later, the same article was reposted with a different caption. "Study shows the population change in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region involves the overall improvement in population quality. An increasing number of youths chose to spend more time and energy on personal development," the post by the Chinese embassy in the US reads. 

The story in question has been originally published by the Chinese mouthpiece Xinhua and claims to have taken material from a study titled 'An Analysis Report on Population Change in Xinjiang' by Li Xiaoxia, a researcher for the Xinjiang Development Research Center.

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As per this study, the "natural growth rate of population in Xinjiang decreased from 11.4 per 1,000 people in 2017 to 6.13 per 1,000 people in 2018". This has been due to the implementation of family planning policy and a changed mindset about marriage and reproduction, as per the Chinese mouthpiece.

It denies allegations made by Adrian Zenz who had reportedly claimed the massive change in the population of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is due to forced sterilisation. The study, however, claims the change is due to improvement in the population control and is a voluntary action by the locals, rather than a forced measure the Chinese government.

This study has come at a time when the Asian country has been severe facing allegations against the inhumane treatment towards the Uygur population — including forced labour, suppression of religious activity, human and digital surveillance, and forced sterilisation to control the population of the area. Following various allegations and studies, many companies have cut ties with the industries producing in the region and several international organisations and governments have also spoken out and have offered support to the locals of the region.