American residents may be detained in Chinese detention camps

At least "a few" American residents are being held in detention camps in Xinjiang, China, State Department sources tell CNN.

A California man's father reportedly went to Xinjiang and hasn't been heard from since, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told the State Department this week. The man in question is a legal U.S. resident with several chronic illnesses, reports CNN.

Brownback criticized the use of detention camps in Xinjiang, which the Chinese government has defended as a means to fight rising extremism.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang dismissed the criticism, saying Beijing "is firmly opposed to the U.S. attempt to use the Xinjiang issue to interfere in China's internal affairs," reports CNN.

The State Department previously estimated in its 2018 human rights report that China has detained anywhere from 800,000 to two million ethnic minorities. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has highlighted the abuses perpetrated by China, saying in mid-March that the country was "in a league of its own when it comes to human rights violations," per Reuters.