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The lawyer for an Australian Uyghur man whose wife and toddler are trapped in Xinjiang has welcomed China's offers of "assistance" as "a big step forward" in reuniting the family.
Key points:
- Australia has requested the wife and son of a Uyghur Australian man be allowed to leave
- China has said it will "offer necessary assistance" after Australia's request
- Lawyers have welcomed China's statement and asked Australia to fast-track a visa for the woman
Sadam Abudusalamu has never met his two-year-old son Lutfy, who is an Australian citizen.
Mr Abudusalamu's wife Nadila Wumaier has been prevented from leaving the far-western province of Xinjiang, where the UN says is a "massive internment camp" where 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been rounded up, detained and sent for "re-education".
Australia this week formally requested that Chinese authorities allow Lutfy and his mother to leave the country and travel to Australia.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Geng Shuang told a press conference he had not seen "the relevant statement from the Australian side" but authorities were looking into it.
"If the Australian side has provided detailed information for us via the bilateral channel, we will offer necessary assistance," he said.
Mr Abudusalamu's lawyer Michael Bradley told the ABC that China's tone was the most promising sign yet in the family's bid to be reunited and he was hoping the case would "move in a positive direction".
"We're taking it as a hopeful sign," he said.
"Maybe there are discussions going on behind the scenes."
"It's clear that from the last couple of days that both governments are well aware of the situation and in some form or another are doing something about it.
"It's a big step forward, and that's certainly the first time that's been the case."
Mr Bradley's firm, Marque Lawyers, has also requested Australia fast-track a visa for Ms Wumaier in the event she is permitted to leave Xinjiang.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Home Affairs and the Chinese embassy in Australia have been contacted for comment.
Mr Abudusalamu yesterday told the ABC he was grateful for Foreign Minister Marise Payne's request.
"I'm not going to stop until I see my son, until I see my wife," he said.
Mr Abudusalamu was one of many Australian-based Uyghurs who spoke out about the widespread persecution and system of oppression operating in China on the ABC's Four Corners program on Monday.
He said his wife was subsequently called to a Chinese police station and warned her husband should keep his mouth shut.
China has denied accusations its internment camp amounts to a "concentration camp", saying the measures it is taking are necessary to stamp out extremism.
After the Four Corners episode aired, the Chinese embassy in Australia lashed out at the program, saying it was "full of lies, distortion and bias".
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, discrimination, world-politics, china, australia