<span style="color: #222222;">The European Union has urged China to change the situation in Xinjiang, where an estimated one million mostly Muslim minorities are held in internment camps. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">EU ambassador to Beijing, Nicolas Chapuis, told reporters today that EU has made clear to the Chinese side its evaluation and expectations and called for a change in the situation in Xinjiang. </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">  </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">China has come under increasing global scrutiny over its treatment of ethnic Uighurs and other Turkic-speaking minorities in Xinjiang, with the EU and the United Nations requesting access to the region.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Beijing has defended its security crackdown, describing the camps as voluntary "vocational education centres" aimed at steering people away from religious extremism, terrorism and separatism.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Issues of concern in Xinjiang include freedom of religion and expression, the rights of minorities and racial discrimination, he said.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">China announced in March that it was inviting EU ambassadors to visit Xinjiang but the two sides have yet to agree on an itinerary.</span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He said the EU also wants independent observers to be allowed to visit the region.</span><br />''