Uighur Activist says China forcing women to work in factories

China has removed more than 300,000 Uighur women from East Turkestan and are forcing them to work in factories, bars and restaurants in China, claimed exiled Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer at a press conference in Tokyo on Friday. Most of the young women, she said, are aged 14 to 25 and working in severe labour conditions. Chinese government said people in East Turkestan cannot find a job and suggested to assist the jobless people mainly women by moving to factories in China, Kadeer told a news conference held at Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo, Japan.China took 300, 000 girls from their homes to go work for Han Chinese in China, but we have plenty of jobs in our homeland of Turkestan, she added. Kadeer arrived in Japan on Tuesday, a trip that has upset China which has accused her of instigating ethnic riots that killed about 200 people earlier this year. Kadeer has denied the allegations.Kadeer, a former businesswoman who now leads the World Uighur Congress, last visited Japan in July, but this week's trip will be her first since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has vowed to deepen ties with Beijing, took office last month.Beijing has repeatedly blamed Kadeer for triggering the deadly July unrest in the strategic and energy-rich northwestern region of Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uighurs.Along with Tibet, Xinjiang is one of the most politically sensitive regions in China and in both places the government has sought to maintain its grip by controlling religious and cultural life while promising economic growth and prosperity.