Australia Calls For Release Of Uighur Mother, Baby

Australia's government on Wednesday called on China to allow an Australian child and his Uighur mother to leave the country, stepping up pressure on Beijing days after Canberra co-signed a letter denouncing its treatment of the Muslim minority.

Canberra had initially denied citizenship to baby Lutifeier, who was born in Xinjiang in August 2017 to an Australian father and a Uighur mother, but backtracked last year following a legal battle.

The child's father, Sadam Abdusalam, has been campaigning for months so his Uighur wife, Nadila Wumaier, and their son, whom he has never met, can come to Australia.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said "the Embassy in Beijing have formally requested that the Chinese authorities allow Ms Wumaier and her son [who is an Australian citizen] to travel to Australia".

The statement came after Abdusalam shared his plight publicly for the first time, speaking to the national broadcaster ABC on Sunday.

He said that his wife was taken in for questioning by Chinese authorities the following day, but was later released.

Payne said on Wednesday that she was aware of the reports, but cautioned that "as Ms Wumaier is not an Australian citizen we do not have an entitlement to consular access".

China's embassy in Australia slammed the ABC programme as "full of lies, distortion and bias". (AFP)