Police in China's restive Muslim-populated region of Xinjiang have arrested the children of an exiled Uighur rights leader and charged them with tax evasion, a government Web site reported yesterday.
Three children of Rebiya Kad-eer, in exile in the US, were arrested for evading 8.07 million yuan (US$1 million) in taxes and owing the state another 21.6 million yuan in back taxes, Xinjiang's Tianshan Web site said.
Kadeer's sons, Ablikim, (identified in the Chinese transliteration as Ahbulikemu), and Alim (Alimu) and her daughter, Rushangul (Ruxianguli) were also accused of owing banks 28.9 million yuan, the report said.
The three were arrested on Wednesday in connection with their ties to the Ahkeda trading company that had registered Ablikim as the company's legal representative, it said.
The announcement of the arrests comes after the US on Thursday called for their release and expressed concern to officials in Beijing that they had been beaten in police custody.
The report on the government-run Web site said that due to the "rude and unreasonable attitude" of Alim, "it was not possible to undertake his arrest in a normal fashion," without giving any other details of how he was treated.
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