Twitter has locked the account belonging to China’s embassy in the US after a tweet stated that Uighur women in Xinjiang have been emancipated and are no longer “baby making machines”.

One of the final acts of the Trump administration this week was declaring that China’s policies and actions in regard to Muslims and ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang region constitute “crimes against humanity” and “genocide”.

A main reason for the declaration is widespread forced birth control among the Uighurs, which the Associated Press documented last year.

Another reason cited, Uighur forced labour, has also been linked by AP reporting to various products imported to the US, including clothing and electronic goods such as cameras and computer monitors.

Twitter said the January 7 tweet from the embassy in Washington violated its policy on dehumanisation.

According to that policy, “the dehumanisation of a group of people based on their religion, caste, age, disability, serious disease, national origin, race, or ethnicity”, is prohibited.

There have been no tweets from the embassy’s account since January 8.

In order to unlock the account, the embassy will have to delete the tweet.

The Chinese embassy in the US did not respond to a request for comment.

But on Wednesday, a day after outgoing US secretary of state Mike Pompeo classified China’s actions as “genocide”, China’s Foreign Ministry described Mr Pompeo as a “doomsday clown” and said the designation was merely “a piece of wastepaper”.

Two Chinese nationals of Uighur origin were arrested on Friday for suspected links to the mass shooting in an Istanbul night club on New Year’s Eve, state-run Anadolu agency said.

Two suspects, Omar Asim and Abuliezi Abuduhamiti, who are Chinese citizens, were remanded in custody on charges of being members of an armed terrorist organisation, and aiding in 39 counts of murder.

Turkish authorities last week said the man who killed 39 people in an attack on an Istanbul nightclub was probably an ethnic Uighur.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria.

Anadolu news agency also said 35 people had been detained so far in relation to the attack. Uighurs were among those detained, local media reports said.

The Uighurs are a largely Muslim, Turkic-speaking minority in far western China with significant diaspora communities across Central Asia and Turkey.

The suspect, who authorities have not named, shot his way into exclusive Istanbul nightclub Reina and opened fire with an automatic rifle, throwing stun grenades to allow himself to reload and shooting the wounded on the ground.

Among those killed in the attack were Turks and visitors from several Arab nations, India and Canada.